Sandmans Rainy Day Stories

Sandman's Rainy Day Stories
By Abbie Phillips
SANDMAN'S RAINY DAY STORIES
Copyright, 1920, by Harper & Brothers
Printed in the United States of America
Published September, 1920
G-U
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Princess Cantilla
The Tree of Swords
The Silver Horseshoes
The Blue Castle
Nardo and the Princess
Old Three Heads
The Enchanted Boat
Nicko and the Ogre
The Gingerbread Rock
Prince Roul's Bride
Sunev
Cilla and the Dwarf
Greta and the Black Cat
The Knight of the Bright Star
The Dolphin's Bride
Princess Dido and the Prince of the Roses
Catville Gossip
How the Elephant Got His Trunk
Why Rabbits Have Short Tails
The Hunter's Friend, Johnnie Bear
Plaid Trousers
The Three Runaways

PRINCESS CANTILLA
Princess Cantilla lived in a castle like most princesses, but she was not a rich princess, for her father had lost all his lands and money by quarreling with other kings about the length and breadth of his kingdom and theirs.
So poor little Cantilla had to work just like any common peasant girl and cook the meals for herself and her father.
The old castle where Cantilla and her father lived had fallen into decay, and only a few rooms at one end were now used, so that the bats and owls had taken possession of the towers and once gorgeous halls on the opposite side of the castle, where beautiful ladies and courtly gentlemen were once seen in gay and festive pleasures. A kitchen and a bedroom apiece were all the rooms that Cantilla and her father, the old King, used, and the furniture was so old it hardly held together.
One day Cantilla was cooking soup for dinner, and as the steam rolled up from the kettle Cantilla thought she saw a face with a long beard looking at her. She drew her hand across her eyes to make her sight more clear, and the next time she looked she did see a face, and a form, too.
A little man with a misshapen back and a long white beard, the ends of which he carried over one arm, stepped from the cover of the boiline pot and hopped to the floor.
"Princess," he said, bowing low before Cantilla, "I am an enchanted dwarf. I can give you back your once beautiful home and make your father a rich king again.
"I can cause all the rooms of the old castle to become new and filled with beautiful hangings and furniture, as they were before your father became so poor."
Cantilla began to smile at the thought of all the luxury and comfort the dwarf pictured, and she lost sight of his ugly-looking body and face for a minute, but she was brought to her senses by what the dwarf next said.
"All this will I give you, Princess Cantilla, if you will become my wife," he said, taking a step closer to Cantilla.
"Oh no, no! I cannot do that," said Cantilla, holding up both hands as if to ward off even the thought of such a thing.
"Wait," said the dwarf. "Do not be so hasty, my Princess. I will come again for your reply to-night at the fountain in the garden where the honeysuckle grows."
Before Cantilla could reply to this he swung his beard over his head and disappeared in a cloud of what looked like steam or smoke.
Cantilla looked about her and pinched herself to make sure she had not dreamed all she had just seen, and by and by she believed it was a dream--that she must have fallen asleep in her chair by the fire.
That night while she was sleeping she was awakened by- feeling some one touch her on the face.
Cantilla had been awakened so many times by the little mice that overran the old castle that she only brushed her face with her hand without opening her eyes and went to sleep again.
"Cantilla, open your eyes! Open your eyes!" she heard some one whisper close to her ear, and again she felt the.touch of something on her face.
Cantilla opened her eyes and sat up in bed. The room was quite bright, and a beautiful lamp with a pink silk shade gave everything in the room a rose tint.
Cantilla was sure she was dreaming, for it was not her old shabby room at all she was looking at.
She looked down at the covering of her bed--that was pink silk, too; she felt of it and found it was filled with the softest down; she also noticed that she wore a beautiful night-robe of pink silk and lace.
On the floor beside the bed on a soft, pink rug stood two little satin slippers, trimmed with swan's-down.
"I am dreaming," said Cantilla, "but I will enjoy it while it lasts," and she looked about her.
The furniture was white and gold, and soft pink rugs covered the floor. Her bed had little gold Cupids on each post, and they held in their hands the ends of pink silk that formed a beautiful canopy; little frills of lace fell from the bottom of