Iwanich , who had been prepared to meet a terrible magician and not a lovely girl , fell desperately in love with her . They spent the rest of the night in pleasant conversation , and when Militza wished to go away he begged her not to leave him . ' I would gladly stay with you longer , ' said Militza , ` but a wicked witch once cut off a lock of my hair when I was asleep , which has put me in her power , and if morning were still to find me here she would do me some harm , and you , too , perhaps . ' Having said these words , she drew a sparkling diamond ring from her finger , which she handed to the Prince , saying : ` Keep this ring in memory of Militza , and think of her sometimes if you never see her again . But if your love is really true , come and find me in my own kingdom . I may not show you the way there , but this ring will guide you . ` If you have love and courage enough to undertake this journey , whenever you come to a cross-road always look at this diamond before you settle which way you are going to take . If it sparkles as brightly as ever go straight on , but if its lustre is dimmed choose another path . ' Then Militza bent over the Prince and kissed him on his forehead , and before he had time to say a word she vanished through the branches of the tree in a little white cloud . Morning broke , and the Prince , still full of the wonderful apparition , left his perch and returned to the palace like one in a dream , without even knowing if the fruit had been taken or not ; for his whole mind was absorbed by thoughts of Militza and how he was to find her . As soon as the head-gardener saw the Prince going towards the palace he ran to the trees , and when he saw them laden with ripe fruit he hastened to tell the King the joyful news . The King was beside himself for joy , and hurried at once to the garden and made the gardener pick him some of the fruit . He tasted it , and found the apple quite as luscious as it had been in his dream . He went at once to his son Iwanich , and after embracing him tenderly and heaping praises on him , he asked him how he had succeeded in protecting the costly fruit from the power of the magician . This question placed Iwanich in a dilemma . But as he did not want the real story to be known , he said that about midnight a huge wasp had flown through the branches , and buzzed incessantly round him . He had warded it off with his sword , and at dawn , when he was becoming quite worn out , the wasp had vanished as suddenly as it had appeared . The King , who never doubted the truth of this tale , bade his son go to rest at once and recover from the fatigues of the night ; but he himself went and ordered many feasts to be held in honour of the preservation of the wonderful fruit . The whole capital was in a stir , and everyone shared in the King 's joy ; the Prince alone took no part in the festivities . While the King was at a banquet , Iwanich took some purses of gold , and mounting the quickest horse in the royal stable , he sped off like the wind without a single soul being any the wiser .
It was only on the next day that they missed him ; the King was very distressed XXXXX his disappearance , and sent search-parties all over the kingdom to look for him , but in vain ; and after six months they gave him up as dead , and in another six months they had forgotten all about him .
If as at beside for that to towards with without