It began to get dark, and the sky, instead of being blue and clear as it had been, filled with black clouds.
"'Oh dear! oh dear!' sighed the queen, 'here is a storm coming.

If I could only find my way down the hill, if I could only see the town!' "But there were trees all about her, which hid the view, and soon it was so dark there was nothing to be seen, not even the stars.

And presently, crash came the thunder, and after the thunder the rain--such rain! It soaked the queen's golden cap till it was so heavy with water she was obliged to throw it away, and her silk petticoat was as wet as if she had been taking a bath in it.

In vain she ran hither and thither, trying to find a way through the trees, while the rain blinded her, and the thunder deafened her, till at last she was forced to sink down on the ground, feeling more wretched and frightened and cold than any queen ever felt before.

Oh, if she were only safe back in her beautiful palace! If only she had the tent the king wanted to send with her! But there all night she had to stay, and all night the storm went on, till the queen was lying in a flood, and the owls and bats, startled out of their holes, went flying past her in the dark, and frightening her out of her senses.