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Advances in Non-volatile Memory
and Storage Technology
Woodhead Publishing Series in Electronic and
Optical Materials

Advances in Non-volatile
Memory and Storage
Technology
Second Edition

Edited by

Blanka Magyari-Köpe
Yoshio Nishi

An imprint of Elsevier
Woodhead Publishing is an imprint of Elsevier
The Officers’ Mess Business Centre, Royston Road, Duxford, CB22 4QH, United Kingdom
50 Hampshire Street, 5th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, OX5 1GB, United Kingdom
Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher. Details on how to seek permission, further information about
the Publisher’s permissions policies and our arrangements with organizations such as the Copyright
Clearance Center and the Copyright Licensing Agency, can be found at our website: [Link]/
permissions.
This book and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by the Publisher
(other than as may be noted herein).

Notices
Knowledge and best practice in this field are constantly changing. As new research and experience
broaden our understanding, changes in research methods, professional practices, or medical treatment
may become necessary.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in evaluating
and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described herein. In using such
information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety and the safety of others, including
parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
To the fullest extent of the law, neither the Publisher nor the authors, contributors, or editors, assume
any liability for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability,
negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions, or ideas
contained in the material herein.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-0-08-102584-0

For information on all Woodhead publications visit our

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Contributors

Stefano Ambrogio IBM Research-Almaden, San Jose, CA, United States

Y. Ando Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

G. Bersuker The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Chong Bi Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Department of Electrical

Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Philippe Blaise CEA LETI Minatec Campus, Grenoble, France

B. De Salvo CEA-LETI Minatec Campus, Grenoble, France

Jonas Deuermeier CENIMAT/i3N, Department of Materials Science, Faculty of

Sciences and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa and CEMOP/UNINOVA,
Campus de Caparica, Caparica, Portugal

Regina Dittmann Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH

and JARA-FIT, Jülich, Germany

T. Endoh Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

S. Fukami Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

D.C. Gilmer Nantero, Inc., Woburn, MA, United States

Ludovic Goux Imec, Kapeldreef, Leuven, Belgium

T. Hanyu Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Michel Harrand CEA LETI Minatec Campus, Grenoble, France

Susanne Hoffmann-Eifert Peter Grünberg Institute (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum

Jülich GmbH and JARA-FIT, Jülich, Germany

Hyunsang Hwang Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang

University of Science and Technology, Pohang, South Korea
xiiContributors

Cheol Seong Hwang Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and Inter-
University Semiconductor Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, South
Korea

Daniele Ielmini Dipartimento di Elettronica, Informazione e Bioingegneria,

Politecnico of Milan and [Link], Milan, Italy

S. Ikeda Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Asal Kiazadeh CENIMAT/i3N, Department of Materials Science, Faculty of Sciences

and Technology, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa and CEMOP/UNINOVA, Campus de
Caparica, Caparica, Portugal

H. Koike Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Yunmo Koo Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University of

Science and Technology, Pohang, South Korea

Luca Larcher Applied Materials, Reggio Emilia, Italy

Seokjae Lim Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University

of Science and Technology, Pohang, South Korea

Massimo Longo CNR—Institute for Microelectronics and Microsystems—Unit of

Agrate Brianza, Italy

Y. Ma Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Stephan Menzel Peter-Grünberg-Institut (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH

and JARA-FIT, Jülich, Germany

Rivu Midya Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of

Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States

Thomas Mikolajick NaMLab gGmbH; Institute of Semiconductors and Microsystems,

TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany

Gabriel Molas CEA LETI Minatec Campus, Grenoble, France

Cécile Nail CEA LETI Minatec Campus, Grenoble, France

H. Ohno Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Andrea Padovani Applied Materials, Reggio Emilia, Italy

Contributorsxiii

Jaehyuk Park Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang University

of Science and Technology, Pohang, South Korea

Paolo Pavan Dipartimento di Ingegneria "Enzo Ferrari", Università di Modena e

Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

L. Perniola CEA-LETI Minatec Campus, Grenoble, France

Francesco Maria Puglisi Dipartimento di Ingegneria "Enzo Ferrari", Università di

Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy

Mingyi Rao Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of

Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States

Noriyuki Sato Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Department of

Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

H. Sato Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

R. Shirota National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan

Jeonghwan Song Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pohang

University of Science and Technology, Pohang, South Korea

D. Suzuki Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Navnidhi Kumar Upadhyay Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,

University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States

D. Veksler The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, United States

E. Vianello CEA-LETI Minatec Campus, Grenoble, France

Shan X. Wang Department of Materials Science and Engineering; Department of

Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Zhongrui Wang Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of

Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States

Rainer Waser Peter-Grünberg-Institut (PGI-7), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH

and JARA-FIT, Jülich; Institut für Werkstoffe der Elektrotechnik (IWE 2), RWTH
Aachen, Aachen, Germany

J. Joshua Yang Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of

Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, United States
OxRAM technology development
and performances 1
Ludovic Goux
Imec, Kapeldreef, Leuven, Belgium

1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 Nonvolatile memory applications
[Link] Storage-class memory (SCM)
In today’s computational systems, memories are categorized into volatile memory and
nonvolatile memory (NVM) technologies.
Due to the ever increasing demand for more memory capacity, planar NAND Flash
has been scaled down to below 20-nm feature size. Concomitantly, three-dimensional
(3D) vertical NAND Flash has been developed as a Bit-Cost-Scalable (BiCS) solution
and allows today entering the Terabyte era. As a result, the NVM market is by far
dominated by NAND Flash technology, and the forecast is that the future of NAND
will be NAND [1].
In the volatile memory category, the main technologies are the static RAM (SRAM)
and dynamic RAM (DRAM), which are higher-speed and higher-performance tech-
nologies, however, exhibit poor scalability. Their role in a central process unit (CPU)
is to store data that require immediate access while NAND Flash or hard-disk drive
(HDD) store information that is not required immediately but for available future us-
age [2].
The problem arises when transferring data from DRAM to NAND: the overall per-
formance of the system is limited by the huge latency gap between these two tech-
nologies. This gap has been virtually fitted with architectural solutions to increase
the data access speed but at the expense of complex system design and increased
chip area. In recent years, researchers have started exploring the possibility of novel
memory concepts to improve the existing memory hierarchy. The concept of storage
class memory (SCM) has been proposed, aiming to fill the access time gap between
the “memory-memory” and the “storage-memory.”
As a “bridge” technology between DRAM and Flash, the main requirements for
SCM are intermediate between DRAM and Flash and should be cost effective.
In short, SCM should be enabled by a nonvolatile, cheap, and scalable technology
having clearly better reliability (write endurance and retention) than Flash. At the lead
in this future booming market, Intel-Micron announced the 3D X-point Memory in
2015 [3] and launched products in 2017. Although not officially confirmed by Intel-
Micron, it is generally agreed in the memory community that 3D X-point is based on
phase-change memory technology.

Advances in Non-volatile Memory and Storage Technology. [Link]

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
4 Advances in Non-volatile Memory and Storage Technology

As will be detailed in the following sections, the filamentary resistive RAM

(RRAM) technology has also proven to be a promising candidate in this growing
market.

[Link] Internet of Things (IoT)—Embedded memory

Another booming market is the concept of Internet of Things (IoT), which is defined
as “intelligent connectivity of smart devices by which objects can sense one another
and communicate” [4].
The advent of billions of connected devices is creating new opportunities and huge
markets for the emerging memories. In fact, the market for IoT devices has been pro-
jected to more than 3.5 trillion in 2020.
In a typical electronic system, logic and NVM components are fabricated sepa-
rately due to the incompatibility in integration flow. To accommodate the exponential
growth of IoT devices, chip costs have to be reduced.
This drives the need for developing new embedded memory technology where a
chip can contain both logic and memory components to lower the cost and save space
on the printed circuit boards. This is referred to as system-on-a-chip (SoC). The exist-
ing SoC chip uses NOR Flash as embedded memory. However, to integrate embedded
NOR Flash in 28 nm node and below, up to 15 extra photomasks need to be added
in the overall fabrication process, which makes embedded NOR Flash an extremely
expensive technology, all the more for more advanced logic nodes. Therefore, an al-
ternative CMOS-compatible and low-cost embedded memory technology would be
highly desired to feed the IoT market as well as other embedded markets.
In this respect too, the RRAM technology is a strong contender, as will be shown next.

1.1.2 Resistive RAM technology

To fulfill the requirements of these new applications, various new memory device
concepts have been proposed and studied. The prominent concepts are spin-transfer
torque magnetic RAM (STT-MRAM), phase-change RAM (PCRAM), and RRAM
or ReRAM. These technologies, due to limited maturity, are categorized as emerging
memories.
The RRAM category is the name of a group of memory technologies characterized
by an electrically reversible resistive switching functionality between a low resistance
state (LRS) and a high resistance state (HRS). One of the most attractive advantages
of RRAM is the low-cost integration allowed by the combination of CMOS-friendly
materials within a simple two-terminal device structure, which typically consists of a
dielectric layer sandwiched between two metal electrodes.
Between the numerous mechanisms potentially at the origin of resistive-switching
effects, nano-ionic transport and redox-reaction mechanisms taking place at the nano-
meter scale [5] have been clearly identified as accounting for the switching function-
ality of various systems.
In most of the RRAM devices reported [6–8], the resistive switching property orig-
inates from the growth and shrinkage of a nanoscaled conductive filament (CF) in the
OxRAM technology development and performances5

dielectric layer. These devices are generally referred to as filamentary RRAM devices,
whose characteristics mainly depend on the CF. In particular, due to the nanoscale
character of the switching, filamentary RRAM has been so far perceived as highly
scalable [5,9], and has thus been developed intensively.
This is, for example, the case of electrochemical metallization memory (ECM) and
valence change memory (VCM) cell concepts.
The ECM concept has led to the development of the conductive bridge RAM tech-
nology (CBRAM), whereby the filament consists of metallic species injected from an
active electrode, typically Ag or Cu, into the dielectric layer [10].
On the other hand, the VCM concept is at play in the Oxide switching RAM tech-
nology (OxRAM), whereby the dielectric layer is an insulating oxide material through
which a CF of oxygen-vacancy defects (Vo) is electrically created [11]. This technol-
ogy generally uses a transition metal oxide (TMO) material, typically HfO2, Ta2O5, or
TiO2 [11,12].
On the other hand, devices with nonfilamentary resistive switching mechanism
have also been reported [13,14]. These devices exhibit area-dependent current flow,
which is not observed in filamentary RRAM after the filament has been created. Here
the resistive switching is achieved by modulation of the effective tunneling barrier
thickness at the oxide-metal interface, as induced electrically by the uniform motion
of Vo defects. An advantage of this concept is the scalability of the operating current
with the device area.
Between these different concepts, this chapter is dedicated to the filamentary
OxRAM technology, and we specifically focus on the works achieved at imec in this
field over the last decade.
In Section 1.2, we first review how the initial developments moved from the uni-
polar to the bipolar switching concept, and we describe typical structures, fabrication
flows, testing procedures, and electrical characteristics of bipolar devices that main-
stream nowadays.
In Section 1.3, we focus on material developments allowing substantial improve-
ments in memory performances, and finally, in Section 1.4, we address key reliability
challenges to address in the future.

1.2 History and basics of filamentary OxRAM

Resistive switching and negative differential resistance phenomena were first reported
in the 1960s in rather thick oxide materials, for example, Al2O3 [15] and NiO [16] lay-
ers. This early period of research has been comprehensively reviewed in Refs. [17,18].
Since the 2000s, there has been a renewed interest in resistive switching in TMO
systems, driven by the potential industrial application as RRAM. In this period, the
developments focused on NiO and TiO2 systems exhibiting unipolar switching oper-
ation [19,20], which means that the same voltage polarity may be used both for set
switching to LRS and reset switching to HRS. This unipolar operation received large
consideration due to possible integration with a two-terminal selector element, such as
6 Advances in Non-volatile Memory and Storage Technology

a diode, which in turn held the promise of dense memory integration potential. Goux
and Spiga [19] give a recent review of unipolar-switching developments.

1.2.1 From unipolar to bipolar concept

The unipolar switching originates from a distinct class of switching mechanism, which
is called thermochemical memory (TCM) mechanism. Indeed, contrary to bipolar
VCM switching mechanisms where the motion of oxygen ionic species is dominated
by drift, the TCM switching is dominated by thermal-controlled diffusion and redox
reaction of active oxygen species.
This major microscopic difference between VCM and TCM mechanisms reflects in
different memory characteristics.

[Link] Unipolar operation mechanism

Unipolar switching is usually observed in simple metal–insulator–metal (MIM) struc-
tures, where the “I” and “M” elements are typically constituted of an oxide layer and
noble metallic layers respectively.
Fresh cells are most often in a very high resistive state requiring the application
of a large “forming” voltage (Vf), which is generally regarded as a sort of electrical-­
breakdown [21,22] allowing to turn the cell for the first time in LRS. After this so-
called “forming” conditioning step, the cell may be reversibly reset-switched to HRS
and set-switched to LRS, as illustrated in Fig. 1.1A–C.
The reset switching operation corresponds to the rupture of the CF, resulting in a
drop of conductivity. Let us assume first that the CF consists of a VO-chain. Upon reset
operation, the current density through the CF has been shown to reach high values,
generating the necessary thermal energy to activate the migration of oxygen from
O-rich regions outside the CF toward O-deficient regions inside the CF. According
to this picture, the reset switching corresponds to the local reoxidation of the CF. It
requires moving back the forming-generated O-species to VO sites, and as the switch-
ing is unipolar in nature, this process is expected to take place primarily laterally by
diffusion mechanisms. In agreement with this scenario, we have evidenced by means

Fig. 1.1 (A) Cross-sectional TEM images and (B) schematic structures of Ni\NiO\Ni cells;
(C) Consecutive unipolar I-V sweeps obtained on the same cell; (D) Extracted Vset and Vreset as
a function of the I-V cycles [21].
OxRAM technology development and performances7

of TEM and EELS characterization a significant increase of the O/Ni ratio after reset
operation in TiN\NiO\Ni cells [23]. Assuming now that the CF consists of a metallic
Ni-chain the thermal dissolution of Ni upon reset switching might be a more realistic
mechanism for CF rupture. In this scenario too the diffusion mechanism is expected to
occur sideways from inside the Ni-rich CF toward outside Ni-poor regions. In both sit-
uations, the physics of the reset operation is overall expected to depend on the spatial
distribution of defects, on local fields as well as on temperature profiles.

[Link] Variability and endurance of unipolar switching

Some NiO cells have been reported to exhibit coexistence of unipolar and bipolar
resistive switching properties [21]. While NiO is intrinsically a thermochemical ma-
terial, the disordered/defective microstructure of the layers proved favorable to ionic
drift and electrochemical redox mechanisms, allowing thus selecting reversibly any
switching mode between unipolar and bipolar [21]. Note that the forming step itself
is sufficient to induce disorder and facilitate ionic drift in high-quality dielectrics. For
example, coexisting unipolar and bipolar operation modes were obtained after form-
ing operation in TiN\HfO2\Pt cells where a high-quality amorphous HfO2 layer was
prepared by ALD [11,24].
The switching variability was investigated in various reports [20,21]. In general,
the switching-voltage distribution is wider for unipolar than for bipolar switching.
Indeed, as the reset mechanism is a self-accelerated process for unipolar mechanisms,
it may be argued that the programming of the HRS state is difficult to control, leading
to different cycle-to-cycle (C2C) RHRS and subsequent Vset parameters, as observed in
Fig. 1.1D [21]. Other reports also suggested that the variability degrades in a configu-
ration of multiple-CF network [25], wherein the switching “hot” spot is likely to move
within the network from cycle to cycle.
Hence, not surprisingly, write-endurance lifetime is clearly shorter for unipolar
than for bipolar switching. Between the invoked origins are the larger temperatures
required for reset compared to bipolar switching, possibly inducing electro-migration
effects [26], the gradual loss of species involved in the radial diffusion, or simply the
drift-induced loss of species inherent to the use of a single programming polarity [11].
Overall, unipolar OxRAM suffered from high operating voltage, large switching
variability, as well as limited endurance. Hence, it gradually lost interest concomitantly
with the substantial improvement of bipolar OxRAM technologies by the years 2010.
Nowadays, modern OxRAM devices are implemented in bipolar mode where the
growth or shrinkage of the conductive filament is achieved by relying on a voltage con-
trolled ion migration assisted by temperature and electric field enabling faster set and reset
operations. The rest of the chapter will be dedicated to the development of this concept.

1.2.2 Bipolar switching concept

[Link] Device structure
In addition to memory performance limitations, unipolar switching OxRAM showed
the major drawback of involving difficult-to-integrate materials, for example, noble
8 Advances in Non-volatile Memory and Storage Technology

metals required in the model system Pt/NiO/Pt to avoid parasitic oxidation during the
thermal-induced reset operation.
In contrast, the drift-dominated mechanisms involved in bipolar VCM allow using
CMOS-friendly electrode materials like TiN or TaN.
Regarding the oxide layer, excellent performances have been demonstrated using
mature atomic-layer deposition (ALD) oxide layers like HfO2 [7,27] or Ta2O5 [28,29],
which are considered today as the mainstream oxide families of OxRAM.
However, the key success of bipolar OxRAM lies elsewhere, that is in the electrical
asymmetry of the structure, as required for a bipolar functionality. We evidenced by
Internal Photoelectron Emission (IPE) that some low work-function metallic layers
like Hf, Ti, Ta inserted at one interface of the MIM stack are very appropriate to induce
such required asymmetry. Fig. 1.2 shows the substantial decrease of electron barrier
of ~1 eV from TiN to Hf electrode [30]. This effect is due to the oxygen scavenging
by Hf leading to the development of an oxygen deficient hafnia interlayer between
Hf and HfO2. A resulting substochiometric oxide interlayer is formed, often referred
to as oxygen-exchange-layer (OEL) [31]. The role of this layer will be to “exchange”
oxygen species with the filament in the oxide layer during the bipolar switching op-
eration. On the other hand, the TiN opposite electrode is considered inert to oxygen
in the first approximation. Hence, the O-scavenging layer of Hf induces an oxygen
vacancy profile along the oxide thickness and will be the main knob allowing to tune
the bipolar switching functionality and characteristics of the device. Both the nature
and the thickness of this layer will be key to the device performances, as will be shown
in the following sections.
As best O-scavenging materials, in general, the use of “mother” metals in Ta2O5\
Ta [29] or HfO2\Hf [27] is preferred and shows robust stack stability after integration
thermal budget. And in practice, up to today the TiN\HfO2\Hf\TiN and TiN\Ta2O5\

Fig. 1.2 Internal Photo-Emission (IPE) characterization of TiNx/HfO2/TiNx and TiNx/Hf/

HfO2/TiNx samples, showing the logarithmic plots of the electron quantum yield as a function
of photon energy. The signal observed under positive +1 V and negative 1 V bias corresponds
to electron IPE from the bottom and top metal electrode, respectively [30].
OxRAM technology development and performances9

Ta\TiN are considered as mainstream OxRAM devices and will be the baselines dis-
cussed in the following sections.

[Link] Integration and scaling

In this section, we describe a typical 1-Transistor/1-Resistor (1T1R) integration flow used to
fabricate TiN\HfO2\Hf\TiN and TiN\Ta2O5\Ta\TiN in a crossbar configuration, and where
the “T” element is the selector device addressing the “R” OxRAM device (Fig. 1.3A).
After the front-end-of-line (FEOL) processing of this select transistor (nMOSFET),
the OxRAM device is fabricated as follows: A 100-nm-thick TiN is deposited by
physical-vapor-deposition (PVD) as a bottom electrode (BE) where the electrical con-
nection to the transistor is realized by tungsten (W) plugs. After BE patterning SiO2
is deposited and polished by chemical–mechanical polishing (CMP) down to the TiN
surface. This step ensures flat BE surface and is thus critical for device performance.
Subsequently, the active HfO2 layer, or Ta2O5 respectively, is deposited by ALD, typ-
ically using HfCl4, or TaCl5 resp., as precursor, and H2O as the oxidant, followed by
the PVD of the Hf, respectively. Ta, O-scavenging metal layer and a TiN top electrode
(TE). Then, the oxide\TE stack is patterned via lithography and etch steps, where a
typical device size of 40 × 40 nm2 is formed in imec process flow. Finally, passivation
modules using Si3N4 and SiO2 layers deposited by CVD and contact formation steps
are carried out.
Fig. 1.3B depicts the cross-section TEM image of a pristine TiN\HfO2\Hf device.
By means of patterning trimming processes, sub-10 nm devices are realized. As ob-
served on Fig. 1.3B the Hf layer is laterally oxidized during process flow, which re-
duces further the active device size [27].

[Link] Typical device testing and characteristics

The role of the select transistor is not only to isolate and address the cell but also to
limit more efficiently the current overshoot during forming and set, as compared to the

Fig. 1.3 (A) Schematic representation of the so-called 1T1R configuration; (B) cross section
along BE and TE of a minimum-sized (8 × 12 nm2) reference 5 nm-HfO2\10 nm-Hf RRAM
stack; the HfO2 layer is amorphous, Hf is crystalline, oxides sidewalls at TE are further
reducing effective cell size; (C) typical set and reset I-V traces obtained on the cells [27].
Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 “FINDING THE FOOTPRINT OF THE ‘SHINING ONE.’”

Barak’s mother followed the flowing water for many days, for she
could not go fast like the Shining One. At last she came to the place
where the water flowed into the sea, and there, on the seashore,
was the big bear quite dead and harmless. Far away over the seas
was a bright, beautiful light, and even as the lonely mother stood
looking at it, the bright clouds parted, there came forth the Shining
One, and as he left the golden glory Barak’s face shone out. He
beckoned with his hand, and his mother heard him say, “Come with
the Shining One, mother; I am waiting for you here.”
FORGET-ME-NOT
“THE MAN IN THE MOON.”
 For-get-me-not.

arie, Marie, go and make those boys cease their

quarrelling.” It was the old housekeeper who ruled over
“Sunny Farm” whose voice could be heard calling to
Marie, her daughter, and the boys who were quarrelling
were the seven sons of King Olaf, who, wishing them to
be strong sturdy fellows, had sent them to live at a farm in the
country, for they had all been ill, and the sweet fresh air and pure
milk and the outdoor life would do more to make them strong and
healthy than all the medicine in the world. So said the Court
physician (who perhaps was tired of having to doctor such
troublesome patients).
At first they enjoyed the free country life, but after a short time
they tired of it, and longed for the excitement of town and the
palace. At least, six out of the seven princes were tired of it, but the
seventh, Prince Charlie, wished he might stay there always. His days
were always full and happy, for, unless his brothers insisted upon his
joining in their rough games, he followed the farmer at the animals’
feeding time, watched the chaff-cutting, and the hundred and one
interesting things at the farm, and when he was tired would go
indoors and sit in the big cool kitchen, where he was sure to find
Marie, gentle, blue-eyed Marie, busily sewing, or, perchance, reading
a book. Marie always greeted his entrance with a smile, and willingly
read to him, or told him a story while she plied her needle. To-day,
however, the princes had insisted that Charlie must join in their
game, which consisted of each throwing up a golden ball at the
same time to see which could throw his the highest. They all threw
their balls at the same time, so, of course, it was quite impossible to
say whose went highest, and a great noise and squabbling ensued.
Such a noise that it disturbed the farmer’s wife in the kitchen, so she
sent her little daughter Marie to make peace amongst them.
Out ran Marie to do her mother’s bidding, but at the door she saw
an old bent man with a bundle of sticks on his back, and a wallet at
his side. He was listening to the great hubbub coming from the field
where the princes were quarrelling.
“Hey day! where away so fast?” he asked, as Marie was running
past him after having made him a deep curtsey.
“Mother sent me to stop that dreadful noise, but I know it will be
hard work. They are growing more and more disagreeable every
day.”
She ran on, and, when she reached the princes, they were
actually fighting with their fists. The only one who would listen to
her pleading was Prince Charlie, who readily left his brothers and
went with her back to the house.
When they entered the kitchen, the old bent man was enjoying a
cup of tea. He looked up and asked how Marie had managed the
quarrel, as the noise seemed as great as ever.
“They would not stop, at least, I mean that six of them would not.
Of course Prince Charlie came away. He does not care for fights.”
“Ah, I’ll remember that,” said the Old Man, and that night, when
the princes were in bed and asleep, the Old Man (who was no less a
personage than the Old Man in the Moon, who had come to the
earth for various reasons) went to the bedroom where lay the seven
brothers, opened the golden ball of each (with the exception of
Prince Charlie’s), then, holding each of the six in turn by the hair
with his magic tweezers, he kept them suspended in the air until
their size had become so small that they could easily be put in their
golden balls, popped them in, closed the balls, and placed the six of
them in his wallet.
All this had been done without a word being said to the farmer or
his wife. The Old Man came back to the room, and sat down again
by the fire, remarking that he would go to bed now, as the moon
would be level with the earth at four o’clock, and he must be there
punctually to step in and do his work. They had all risen to go to
their rooms, when great thundering knocks resounded on the door,
and a voice cried—
“Open in the King’s name!”
The farmer hastily unlocked the door, and there entered Prince
Claude, the cousin of the seven princes. He was followed by several
soldiers.
“Where is the King?” he demanded.
“In the palace, I suppose,” answered the farmer.
“The King is here,” said the Prince; “do you not know that the late
King, the father of the seven princes, died yesterday, and I have
come to take his eldest son back to the palace to be King in his
father’s place?”
The farmer started to go to the room where the seven princes had
slept, but he was stopped by the Old Man of the Moon.
“You need not go,” said the Old Man, “it is too late. This evening,
after they had gone to bed, I did what your wife has so often asked
me to do.”
“What was that?” they cried out together.
“Why, I took means to stop their quarrelling.”
Then he told them how he had done it, showed them the tweezers
with which he had worked the magic, showed them also the six
golden balls containing the six princes.
“There are only six,” said the farmer’s wife.
“Ah, yes, Prince Charlie ceased quarrelling when told to do so,
therefore he is still sleeping in bed.”
“He, then, must be King in his father’s place,” said Prince Claude,
but he did not mean what he said, for he had quickly formed the
wicked plan of doing to Prince Charlie what the Old Man had done to
the other princes.
When every one was in bed, and the house quite still and silent,
Prince Claude went to the room where the Old Man slept, quietly
took the magic tweezers and the wallet, and in a very few minutes
had secured poor Prince Charlie in his own golden ball, and placed it
with the other six in the wallet which he then placed by the Old
Man’s side again.
At six o’clock, when the farmer roused the household, it was
discovered that not only had the Old Man gone, but Prince Charlie
had disappeared. Prince Claude pretended he knew nothing about it,
and soon gladly set off for the palace, for he was the one who must
now be King. Poor little Marie went about her work very sadly, taking
long walks when she had time to do so, and asking every one she
met if they had seen any one answering to the description of Prince
Charlie.
Almost a year had gone by, when, one day, as she wandered
about further from home than usual, she heard some one moaning,
and going towards the spot from whence the sound came, she saw a
man tied to a tree, his face all swollen and looking full of agony.
“Water, water, for the love of heaven, a few drops of water!”
“Poor man,” said tender-hearted Marie, and she soon brought him
some water in her hat from the stream near by.
“You do not know me,” moaned the man, “but I know you, you
are Marie of ‘Sunny Farm.’”
 “MARIE FINDING THE MAN.”

Of course Marie asked her usual question, and this time she got
an answer. The man told her that he was Prince Claude. This she
could not believe at first, for he was dressed in rags. He told her
what he had done to Prince Charlie, how he had also gone to the
palace, and had been crowned King, but that his conscience had
troubled him so much that he had done many wicked and foolish
things to try and forget his sin. He told her, too, how his subjects
had rebelled against him, and had driven him away from the palace,
and that robbers had set upon him, robbed and beaten him, taken
away his good clothes, and put those rags upon him, and had then
tied him to a tree, where, all through the hot day, he had been in
sight of the water, and could not get a drop.
“You have been very wicked,” said Marie, “but at least you have
told me where to look for dear Prince Charlie. I cannot cut the
leather which binds you to the tree, so, before I set out to find
Prince Charlie, I shall run back to the farm, and get my father to
come and set you free.”
The farmer came, but long before he arrived Prince Claude was
dead, and all that could be done for the wretched man was to bury
him.
 “MARIE GOING TO THE MOON.”

Not another instant did Marie lose. At once she set off on her long
journey to the point where the moon touches the earth. For days
and days she walked, begging food at houses by the way, and at last
she reached the desired point; but, alas! when she saw the Old Man
and asked him to give her back Prince Charlie’s ball, he told her that
the balls were not in his keeping, and the only one to help her was
the boatman who ferried a boat across daily from the moon to the
stars, for the seven balls had been placed in the sky as seven stars.
They waited until the queer boat came alongside the moon, and the
Old Man helped Marie into the boat.
When the boatman heard Marie’s story and her request, he at
once steered towards a point where shone seven stars in this
fashion.

The one in the centre shone brightly, but those around it were dim
and gave but little light. “That is Prince Charlie’s, I am sure,” said
Marie, “the one in the middle;” and when she looked closely at it,
she found a little mark that Prince Charlie had made upon it one day.
How she thanked the boatman! But the boatman smiled at her sadly,
for he knew that any one once touched by the magic tweezers and
enclosed in the golden ball, could never be brought to life again.
The boatman rowed her back to the moon, and the Old Man
helped her out gently and lovingly. “Kind little girl,” he said, “you can
never see bonnie Prince Charlie again in this world, but take the ball
to the earth, bury it in your garden, weep tears of loving sorrow over
the tiny grave, and you will be rewarded.”
Marie clasped the ball lovingly. When she reached the earth again,
she set off at once for home, hardly stopping to rest or eat by the
way, for she wished to see what would happen when she buried the
golden ball.
“Oh, my dear! my dear!” cried her mother, when Marie returned,
“how I have missed you!”
 “Little one, you must never go away again; we cannot spare you,”
said her father.
“I shall never leave you again, dear mother and father; for all I
love is here now.”
She buried the golden ball in her garden just under her bedroom
window, and indeed she did water the little grave with the tears of
love, as the Old Man had told her to do, and the next time he came
to visit the farm, she led him to the little grave, and, lo, it was
covered with a pretty blue flower which had a tiny golden centre.
“Ah!” said the Old Man, “did I not tell you you would be
rewarded?”
“The blue eyes and the golden hair of Prince Charlie will never be
forgotten now; they seem to say to me, ‘Forget-me-not, forget-me-
not,’” answered Marie.
And ever since that time the tiny flower has been called “Forget-
me-not.”
THE PALACE OF TRUTH
“THEY CAME IN SIGHT OF AN ENORMOUS TREE, UPON WHICH
GREW GOLDEN APPLES.”
 The Palace of Truth.

here was once a King who had three sons, three such
haughty sons, indeed they were as bad as it was
possible for princes to be. Their mother had died when
the youngest was a baby, and every one had petted and
spoilt them until they had become unbearable. At last
the Queen of the Fairies decided that if they were to do any good in
the world as Princes, she had better have a hand in their education.
Tutors they had had until at last there was not to be found any one
in the Kingdom who would undertake to teach them. The present
one had given notice that he meant to leave, but the Fairy Queen
stopped that.
Their last day (for some time) amongst mortals had come. Oh, it
had been a terrible day for every one in the Palace! It seemed as if
the Princes had gone mad, and they had ended up by breaking
every piece of crockery in every bedroom, little dreaming what hard
work it would mean for them in Fairyland.
Night came, the three Princes were in bed and fast asleep.
Suddenly they awoke, hearing their names distinctly called. Each
Prince sat up in bed, gazing, in something like fear, at a lovely little
vision, the Queen of the Fairies herself. They were only conscious of
a beautiful face, above a shimmer of gold, looking sadly at them.
“Princes you are called, but, unless the Fairies themselves help you,
you will never be worthy of the title. You must come with me to the
‘Palace of Truth,’” said the Queen.
 “Only give us one more chance,” they all said together.
“You have had too many chances already; get up and put on your
clothes.”
They obeyed in silence.
“Turn out your pockets.” They obediently pulled out string, knives,
and other things.
“Stand up in front of me and look at me.” The three Princes fixed
their eyes upon the Fairy’s face. She waved her golden wand gently
to and fro, and, as she waved it over them, they gradually grew
smaller and smaller, until at last they were as tiny as it is possible for
human beings to become.
“Now I shall call my carriage, and you may drive with me.” She
called, her voice sounding like the tinkle of a silver bell, and in
answer to her call, there came through the open window a carriage
made of mother-of-pearl and drawn by butterflies. The drive really
was delightful, and when they found themselves rapidly going over
the Black Forest, they looked at each other joyfully.
“We have never been allowed to go near the Black Forest,” said
Prince Thomas.
“No, that was the one thing we could not persuade any one to let
us do, because it is haunted by hobgoblins and devils,” said Prince
Richard.
“You are going there, now,” replied the Fairy, and to their
astonishment the butterflies flew down to the ground in the very
heart of the Forest. The three Princes got out of the carriage at a
sign from the Fairy Queen. She then told them that their education
in Fairyland had begun, and they must walk through the Forest until
they arrived at the Palace of Truth.
She gave them each a present. Prince Thomas received a tiny
walking-stick. Prince Richard two small round stones. Prince Henry a
small box. The Princes thought these were stupid presents, but were
afraid to say so; only they determined to throw them away as soon
as they were alone.
All too soon the Fairy Queen drove away in her carriage, and the
boys in fear took hold of hands, and tried to feel brave, but oh dear!
how frightened they were! As long as they kept to a narrow path,
which seemed to go on and on for miles, nothing happened, but if
they wandered ever such a little way from the path, they heard
growls and horrid noises, and saw creatures glaring at them. So they
kept to the path and walked forward until they felt so weary that
they really had to rest; so they sat down on the edge of the path, in
the shade of a tree, and as they sat there they heard a curious
grind, grind, grinding noise as of two stones grinding something
between them.
Their curiosity at last made them go to try and discover what the
noise really was, but, when they attempted to go near the bush from
behind which the noise came, they were driven back by the silly little
Stick that the Fairy had given Prince Thomas. It looked such a funny
little thing as it went hoppity, hoppity, hop on its one leg that they
could do nothing but roll on the ground and laugh, and then the silly
Stick stood bolt upright with its crook turned towards them, and
somehow it looked exactly like their last teacher. You see, it really
was their last teacher turned into a stick by the Fairy, and given this
work to do. When the Princes discovered the likeness in the Stick to
the tutor, they laughed more than ever—indeed they laughed until
they could laugh no more.
As they lay very still on the ground, tired with laughing, they
heard the grinding sound cease. Prince Thomas jumped up quickly,
and ran to look behind the bush. This time the Stick did not attempt
to stop him. There he found three plates of bread and milk, three
cups of coffee, and three slices of bread and butter. How the Princes
enjoyed that meal, prepared by the Two Stones who, of course,
were the two cooks from the Palace transformed by the Fairy. After
breakfast, they went on their journey again, not because they
wished to go, for indeed they wanted to lie still under the trees and
be lazy, but the Stick drove them along, and, if one of them dared to
go away from the right path, the Stick just whacked him until he
went back to the path.
All day they went along that narrow path, only stopping for meals,
and, when evening came, they were really tired and gladly followed
the Stick to the shelter of a bush, where, to their surprise, they
found three nice soft blankets. It did not take them long to roll
themselves up snugly, and they were soon fast asleep. I know you
have guessed that the blankets came out of the wee box given by
the Fairy to Prince Henry.
For days and days they marched through the Forest, never
seeming to get any nearer the end of it. Each day was just like that
first one—The Stick compelled them to keep to the road, their meals
were prepared by the Two Stones, and their blankets spread from
the mysterious box.
At last one day they came in sight of an enormous tree, upon
which grew golden apples, and, for the first time during their
journey in the Forest, they saw people. But were they people? they
looked like it, except for their noses, which were dreadfully long.
Noses of all lengths they saw. There was one man whose nose
wound round his legs and tripped him up when he tried to walk.
“Keep away, keep away,” shouted this man, “take warning by me; if
you eat of the fruit of this tree, if you even take a bite, you cannot
leave off.” Even while he spoke, he kept on grabbing and eating.
Fortunately for the Princes the Stick kept strict watch, and would not
even let them go on the side near the tree, and when they were
safely past, he hopped behind, to protect any of them running back
to the fascinating fruit trees.
But soon they forgot all about the tree at the sight which met their
eyes. Straight in front of them was a beautiful Palace, built of pure
glass, and the narrow path along which they had journeyed for so
many days led up to the very steps of the Palace. Hoppity, hoppity,
hop went the Stick, leading the way. Open flew the door to admit
them, but it closed with a bang when they were inside. Hoppity,
hoppity, hop went the Stick down the big hall to a room at the far
end, and when the Princes went into the room, the Stick hung itself
upon a nail by the door, its work for the day being finished.
The room, which was to be their dining-room, play-room, and
bedroom combined, for many days to come, was clean, but very
plainly furnished with three beds, three chairs, a table, and an
enormous cupboard on the top of which stood a big Noah’s Ark. The
Princes tried to open the big cupboard, but could not; then they
thought they would get the Noah’s Ark down and play with that, but
it was so far out of their reach that even a chair held on top of
another chair standing on the table was not high enough to get it
down. The Princes gazed sadly at the coveted toy.
“I wish,” said Prince Thomas, after some time, “I wish it would
come down.” No sooner had he uttered the wish than the little men
and animals all came rushing pell-mell from their Ark, and were soon
on the table. “What fun,” cried the Prince, “to play with things that
can come to you of their own accord.”
 “THE TOYS RUNNING AWAY.”

For some time the strange new toy charmed the three Princes, but
it was impossible for such spoiled boys to play together for long
without a quarrel, and a big quarrel began between Henry and
Richard for the possession of the camels. They quarrelled so badly
that fists began to be used, and only stopped when Thomas called
to them to look at the funny playthings, for they were all running
away. Off the table scampered animals, as well as Noah and the
other men, and before the Princes could stop them, they had
climbed up the cupboard, gone into their Ark and shut the door. No
amount of coaxing could bring them down this time, and as the top
of the cupboard was quite out of reach, the Princes decided to go to
bed.
A real bed was very comfortable after having lain on the ground in
the Forest for so many nights. They were so excited with the strange
Palace and the wonderful Noah’s Ark that they could not sleep, so
they talked for a long time—at least, Thomas and Henry talked, but
Prince Richard shut his eyes and tried to sleep. His brothers’ voices
kept him awake, and by degrees the bed which had seemed so
comfortable grew harder and harder; really he was growing more
and more grumbly, although he did not know it. He turned from side
to side impatiently, then, alas! a grumble slipped out: “Bother this
bed, it is so hard that I——” The sentence was never finished, for
the bed shot up on its end and sent Richard sprawling to the floor in
the midst of the blankets. The worst of it was that the bed refused
to allow him to sleep in it that night. There it stood up on end, and
the united efforts of the three Princes could not bring it into its usual
position. The other Princes invited Richard into their beds, but as
soon as he attempted to get in, the bed began to rise upon end, and
he was tumbled out.
“No use,” said Richard, “I know it is my own fault; I grumbled, so I
must sleep on the floor to-night. The Fairies mean to punish me.”
After breakfast next morning the Princes intended to play with the
animals of the Noah’s Ark again, but no amount of wishing would
bring them down from their resting-place, for morning is the time for
lessons, not for toys.
While they were still standing in front of the cupboard, looking up
at the Ark and wishing their hardest, the Stick came in and drove
them out of the room, down the big hall, and into a small room.
There he left them, and, as the door banged behind him, they
looked round the room in curiosity. It seemed to be full of dead flies,
butterflies, and other insects, and while they were wondering why
they should be brought into what seemed to be a burying-place for
dead insects, the Queen of the Fairies appeared before them.
“Princes,” she said scornfully, “these poor dumb things which could
not protect themselves were tormented and killed by Princes, who
are not worthy even of the term boy, which stands for bravery—and
Princes should be the leaders of boys, the bravest of the brave.” She
looked terrible in her anger. The poor Princes dared not utter a
word.
She went on, “You had your ‘fun,’ as you called it, now you have
got to pay for it, and this is the price. Every day from morning till
night, you must stay in this room, and work at these poor little
insects. Every leg and every wing must be put on its owner’s body in
the right place. When all are ready, I shall appear.”
The Fairy vanished, and the Princes, who had learned to obey
during their journey through the Forest, set to work. Weary work it
was too, and the worst of it was, that, if one of the Princes grumbled
ever so little, the insect upon which he was working fell to pieces,
and the parts had to be patiently searched for, and put together
again.
At last, however, every insect was complete, and just as the
Princes gave a sigh of relief as they looked at their finished task,
there stood the Queen of the Fairies before them. No anger was in
her face now, but a sweet loving smile. She gently waved her wand
over the dead insects, and, lo, a buzzing and humming immediately
began as they stirred, flew round the room, and out of the window
into the fresh air.
The Queen looked sadly at the Princes. “If you had been cruel
only, your work would now be done, your education finished, but,
alas! there are two more rooms through which you must go. The
work will be hard, but if you will remember that grumbling undoes
the work you grumble about, your task will be much easier than this
sad one has been to you.”
She vanished as suddenly as she had appeared, and the faithful
old Stick came hoppity, hoppity, hop into the room, and, following it,
they were led into a big room full of broken crockery. They gave a
start of dismay as they saw how much there was. Could it be
possible they had destroyed so many things? “Look,” said Prince
Thomas, pointing to six big tables, “there are the bedroom sets we
smashed up the day the Fairies took us away. I do wish we had been
wiser, then we would not have had to work so hard now.” His
brothers agreed, and although this was rather a selfish motive for
wishing to be good, still it was a big step in the right direction, and
the first real step they had taken towards going back to their father’s
Palace.
They set to work with a will, patiently putting the big pieces in
order, and then searching for the small bits to fit in. A long, long
time it took, and knowing that the least grumble might mean the
whole of the crockery falling to pieces, and the pieces all having to
be put together again, they tried so hard to be patient that not a
single grumble escaped one of them.
What joy when the whole of the things were mended! This time
the Fairy did not appear, but they were led by the Stick into another
room full of queer rolls of paper. What could they be? Looking
closely at them, they soon discovered. Alas! all the bad or
disobedient or rude words they had ever spoken were plainly to be
seen. “Oh dear!” said Prince Richard, “can it be possible that we
were such bad, disobedient, rude boys? we should have had more
niceness than that.”
“Yes, indeed,” replied his brothers.
Ah, if they had but known it, that speech showed they were a
good distance on the road to “home.” As they spoke the Fairy
appeared and told them they must rub out the awful words, and
then bury the rolls in the garden. It was not very difficult work, only
tedious, and the more they rubbed, the sorrier they became for
having said such words. When three rolls were cleaned, they each
shouldered one, and bore them through the open French window,
and down a long winding path, which led to a flower garden quite
out of sight of the room in which they had worked at the rubbing.
There were many mounds in this garden, and on each grew pretty
flowers.
The Princes set to work to dig a hole for each bundle. This was
quite a fresh kind of labour for them, and at first they thought it
great fun to use a pick and shovel, but, before long, each Prince felt
his back aching rather badly. The pain grew greater and greater until
at last the grumbling began. It did not go on very long, however, for
the sight of the three rolls, tumbling along the garden path, making
straight for the house, made them remember the Fairy’s caution
about grumbling. At once they ran after the rolls meaning to bring
them back, but no matter how fast they ran, the rolls kept some
distance in front of them, and reached the house first.
“Positively no more grumbling for me,” remarked Prince Richard.
“Nor for me.”
“Nor for me,” echoed his brothers.
When they had carried the rolls back once more, and had dug
until their backs ached, they wisely lay down on the ground and
rested, then set to work again, and soon finished the digging and
buried the rolls.
When they brought the second lot of rolls to be buried, they were
delighted to see pretty roses growing out of the mounds where they
had buried their first burdens.
At last, after many weeks of patient work, the room was cleared
of rolls, and the Princes waited for the Fairy to appear, or for the
Stick to come and lead them to another room. Neither of these
things happening, and seeing the door of the room open (it had
been closed while they worked at the rubbing) they went out into
the great hall. Every door on either side of the hall was open, and
boys of all sizes were hurrying along, either coming out of the
rooms, running along the hall, or going out of the big door at the
end, while an old man, bent nearly double, rang a big bell and called
loudly:
“Examination day is here, hurry to the Examination room, the
Fairies are waiting there.”
He kept on repeating this, as he walked up and down, and the
Princes quite meant to go to the Examination, but their attention
was attracted by a queer-looking boy whose arms flapped about as if
he thought they were wings, whose head was rather like a big
bluebottlefly’s, and who seemed to be trying to climb up the wall, at
the same time making a buzzing noise with his mouth.
“What are you doing?” asked one of the Princes.
“I’m (buzz) going to the (buzz, buzz) examination (buzz, buzz,
buzz).”
“But why are you doing that sort of thing; do you think you are a
fly?”
“(Buzz) I’m only (buzz, buzz, buzz) going to the door (buzz,
buzz).” He looked at his questioners in a surprised way. Prince
Thomas began to answer, but he never finished that answer, for the
door closed with a resounding bang. They ran to it and tried to open
it, but it was too firmly closed against them. It had opened for those
ready for examination to go through, and they had missed their
chance. However, the old man who had been calling every one to go
to the Examination, did not mean to miss his chance. It was the rule
that those unfit for examination, who remained in the hall after the
big door closed, should be taken by the old man, and given to the
gnomes for slaves.
Imagine the Princes’ surprise when they found themselves picked
up and thrust into a great leather bag in company with the buzzing
boy, and a few other queer looking creatures who bore some
resemblance to boys. The old man carried them to the foot of a
great mountain, rolled away a stone which concealed a hole in the
mountain, and calling out, “Only eight this time, here they come,”
emptied the bag into the opening. Down fell the victims, and when
they reached the bottom, the gnomes danced around them in glee.
The new-comers were quickly set to work, and kept at it too, and it
was a good thing the Princes had learned patience in the Palace of
Truth, or they would have grumbled and received the horrible
punishments they saw inflicted on the buzzing boy and the others
who had failed to learn patience during their trial time in Fairyland.
Of course the gnomes knew there must be some mistake as soon
as they saw the Princes. They were not failures, but they kept them
as slaves, put chains on them, and made them work as hard as the
others had to, making gold for the earth. How much time the Princes
spent in gnomeland they never knew, but they always kept a sharp
look out for any chance to escape, and at last it came.
The gnomes were holding a great festival, as they always do once
every thousand years, and the right time for it came while the
Princes were with them. The slaves were set to work alone, but
most of them went to sleep when there were no gnomes’ goads to
make them keep awake.
First the gnomes had great jumping trials, when they jumped over
the great fires, seeing, not who could jump highest, but who could
bear to jump nearest the fire. Then they drank quantities of a very
fiery liquid that made them first fight with each other, and then fall
into a heavy sleep. The Princes knew this sleep would last for many
hours, so now was the chance they had longed for, and must at once
use. Quickly they filed through the heavy chains which bound them,
and ran off in what they hoped was the right direction. On and on
they ran, although soon tired with their unaccustomed exercise; but
success meant freedom from slavery, so, though very tired, they
persevered in their running.
At length they saw a point of light, and when they reached it, lo! it
led them out into a beautiful meadow filled with green grass and
flowers. They threw themselves at full length on the sweet smelling
grass, so delightful to touch and see and smell after their long
imprisonment in the gold-mine.
Presently Prince Thomas said, “There is a great thing like an
umbrella here, if you will help me, I shall climb to the top, see what
there is to be seen, and tell you, for we must soon decide in which
direction to journey on.”
The great thing was a big toadstool.
With his brothers’ help the Prince climbed to the top, but almost at
once he took a flying leap to the ground again, crying, “Hide, get
under this shelter, for there is a great monster coming this way.”
They crept under the toadstool, but to their horror, the monster
stopped quite close to them, and began to think aloud.
“Enemies encompass me on every side, my nephew has secretly
been working against me, telling lies, and stirring the people to
rebellion.” Here he sighed deeply. “If only my three sons were with
me! but alas, the fairies took them away many years ago, and they
have never been heard of since.”
The Princes who had listened to all the old man (who seemed a
monster to them because of their tiny size) said, began to
understand. This was their father, the King. They peeped out at him.
Yes, their dear father, though now an old, old man with white hair.
So their cousin, Prince Claude, was a traitor.
A great longing filled the breast of each Prince. Oh, to be big
enough to fight for and take care of their dear father. No thought of
self now. Ah, that was just what their lessons in Fairyland had taught
them. This unselfish desire to help another was the one thing
needed to restore them to their proper size, and to their
astonishment each saw, not only himself, but the other two, grow
and grow and grow until they were quite as big as their father.
The King had flung himself on the ground, and lay still with his
eyes closed. Hearing a noise, he looked up and saw three strong-
looking young men standing before him.
 “Treachery,” he cried, springing to his feet and drawing his sword,
“Prince Claude has sent you to follow and kill me.”
He would have struck at them, but they stood quite still, and, as
they uttered the one word “Father” his sword dropped from his
hand.
It did not take long for them to tell him what had happened since
their disappearance with the Fairies, neither did it take long for him
to tell of the sad state of affairs in his Kingdom, brought about by
their cousin, who was trying to make the people rebel against their
lawful King.
Great was the rejoicing in the City that night. A great supper was
made, bonfires were lighted, the bells were rung, and the King
presented his sons to the chief Ministers of State. Prince Thomas
being the eldest had, of course, to remain at home, and help the
King to govern the land. Prince Richard led the Army, and quickly put
down all rebellion in the Kingdom. Prince Henry took command of
the Navy, and gained great victories at sea.
The Kingdom, governed and guarded so wisely by the Fairy-taught
Princes, was known throughout the whole world as the Happy
Kingdom.

Finis
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IN THE BUSH ***

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