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"I have sent for your shoe, my child," she said. "Those tiresome grandchildren of mine give me a great deal of trouble. I can't keep my eyes on all of them at once, and so they are always in mischief!" Sidigunda looked up in the gentle face; and sat down confidingly beside the Sea-grandmother.
He stopped playing, and made room for her to sit down beside him. "I knew you were coming," he said. "You want to go to the Sea-grandmother, don't you?" "Yes, I do!" said the Princess. "Do you live here all alone?" "Why, of course," replied the Crab-herd, "I look after all the crabs of the district.
I must speak to the Sea-grandmother about them, and get her to keep them in better order." "Oh, it's gone then, and I shall never get it back again!" wept the Princess. "What am I to do, Godfather?" "Have you courage enough to go and find your shoe by yourself?" "If that's the only way to get it back," said the Princess bravely.
The children wander so far now-a-days! Have you seen it?" the Sea-grandmother continued, turning to some of the children who surrounded her. "Oh, yes," they answered in chorus. "Just now it floated above us. We can fetch it in a minute!" "Swim away then, as fast as you can!" cried the Sea-grandmother, and the children darted off like fish through the green clearness of the water.
As they reached the foot of the grey cliffs, the Crab-boy unfolded a pair of fin-like wings from his elbows, and began to swim upwards leaving the little Princess with her arms stretched out imploringly towards him. "Oh, don't leave me here by myself!" she cried. "I shall never find my way to the Sea-grandmother!"
That evening bonfires were lighted on all the hill-tops; and a great banquet was held in the Castle, at which the Princess appeared amidst loud cheering, and, holding her father's hand, drank from a golden goblet to the health of her Godfather, the Shore-Troll, and the Sea-grandmother. In the very heart of a great forest in Sweden lived a Bear family, called "Bjornson."
Sidigunda did as she was told for the old lady spoke as if she were used to being obeyed without question and found herself floating upwards, until she alighted on a broad ledge right in front of the Sea-grandmother. "So you have come all this way to find your golden shoe?" the old lady said in her clear, even voice. "Sit down, and tell me all about it."
"By going home at once to your father and mother, and by promising me never again to be disobedient," said the Sea-grandmother gravely. "Give me your shoe, and I will order it to take you back to the Castle." She stopped her needles for a moment, and passed her hand over the slipper: then kissed the little Princess, and waved the knitting rapidly before her.
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