When these were over the barge proceeded up the river to the field where the dancing and concerts were to take place , and after the prizes had been given away to the winners , and the loaves and the dresses had been distributed by the princess , they bade farewell to their guests , and turned to step into the barge which was to carry them back to the palace . Then a dreadful thing happened . As the king stepped on board the boat one of the sandals of the white slipper , which had got loose , caught in a nail that was sticking out , and caused the king to stumble . The pain was great , and unconsciously he turned and shook his foot , so that the sandals gave way , and in a moment the precious shoe was in the river . It had all occurred so quickly that nobody had noticed the loss of the slipper , not even the princess , whom the king 's cries speedily brought to his side . ` What is the matter , dear father ? ' asked she . But the king could not tell her ; and only managed to gasp out : ` My shoe ! my shoe ! ' While the sailors stood round staring , thinking that his majesty had suddenly gone mad . Seeing her father 's eyes fixed on the stream , Diamantina looked hastily in that direction . There , dancing on the current , was the point of something white , which became more and more distant the longer they watched it . The king could bear the sight no more , and , besides , now that the healing ointment in the shoe had been removed the pain in his foot was as bad as ever ; he gave a sudden cry , staggered , and fell over the bulwarks into the water . In an instant the river was covered with bobbing heads all swimming their fastest towards the king , who had been carried far down by the swift current . At length one swimmer , stronger than the rest , seized hold of his tunic , and drew him to the bank , where a thousand eager hands were ready to haul him out . He was carried , unconscious , to the side of his daughter , who had fainted with terror on seeing her father disappear below the surface , and together they were place in a coach and driven to the palace , where the best doctors in the city were awaiting their arrival . In a few hours the princess was as well as ever ; but the pain , the wetting , and the shock of the accident , all told severely on the king , and for three days he lay in a high fever . Meanwhile , his daughter , herself nearly mad with grief , gave orders that the white slipper should be sought for far and wide ; and so it was , but even the cleverest divers could find no trace of it at the bottom of the river . When it became clear that the slipper must have been carried out to sea by the current , Diamantina turned her thoughts elsewhere , and sent messengers in search of the doctor who had brought relief to her father , begging him to make another slipper as fast as possible , to supply the place of the one which was lost . But the messengers returned with the sad news that the doctor had died some weeks before , and , what was worse , his secret had died with him .
In his weakness this intelligence had such an effect on the king that the physicians feared he would become XXXXX ill as before .
While as at before by for into over so with