Just at this moment the white doe sprang out of a thicket near by , and started back trembling when she beheld her enemy lying there . Yet , instead of turning to fly , something bade her go and look at him unseen . As she gazed a thrill ran through her , for she felt that , worn and wasted though he was by illness , it was the face of her destined husband . Gently stooping over him she kissed his forehead , and at her touch he awoke . For a minute they looked at each other , and to his amazement he recognized the white doe which had escaped him the previous day . But in an instant the animal was aroused to a sense of her danger , and she fled with all her strength into the thickest part of the forest . Quick as lightning the prince was on her track , but this time it was with no wish to kill or even wound the beautiful creature . ` Pretty doe ! pretty doe ! stop ! I wo n't hurt you , ' cried he , but his words were carried away by the wind . At length the doe could run no more , and when the prince reached her , she was lying stretched out on the grass , waiting for her death blow . But instead the prince knelt at her side , and stroked her , and bade her fear nothing , as he would take care of her . So he fetched a little water from the stream in his horn hunting cup , then , cutting some branches from the trees , he twisted them into a litter which he covered with moss , and laid the white doe gently on it . For a long time they remained thus , but when Desiree saw by the way that the light struck the trees , that he sun must be near its setting , she was filled with alarm lest the darkness should fall , and the prince should behold her in her human shape . ` No , he must not see me for the first time here , ' she thought , and instantly began to plan how to get rid of him . Then she opened her mouth and let her tongue hang out , as if she were dying of thirst , and the prince , as she expected , hastened to the stream to get her some more water . When he returned , the white doe was gone . That night Desiree confessed to Eglantine that her pursuer was no other than the prince , and that far from flattering him , the portrait had never done him justice . ` Is it not hard to meet him in this shape , ' wept she , ` when we both love each other so much ? '
But Eglantine comforted her , and reminded her that XXXXX a short time all would be well .
For So as at from in into near on that