Once upon a time, in a far off country close by the sea, lived a good man & his wife. They lived very happily for they loved each other dearly. This man was a sailor, and earned a living by following the fortunes of the deep, while his good wife stayed home to make him happy when he returned from his journeys to the far off worlds. In his going away and coming back he was always happy, and thought nothing could make him more joyous.

    Then one day, after a long hard journey, he entered the little home, and found a stranger there; a little dark haired stranger who looked at him with wide eyes in which a question lurked.

    They loved the little girl very much and took good care of her, so she grew fast into a romping laughing person that everyone came to love. Her mind grew as her body developed, for the man and his wife taught her many things they had learned in the long life they had lived.

    This little girl played all day on the sands of the sea shore, and loved to watch the ships come and go. Other little boys and girls liked to play with her, because she was always happy and generous. She taught them her games and shared her play things and they came to call her Merri Eyes, perhaps because of the big dark eyes in which a laugh always danced like a merry elf at play.

    But none of the people knew that she was a real princess, and they wouldn’t have believed you had you told them. They world have said that princesses lived in great big castles and didn’t play like other girls. But then, Merri Eyes did not know herself that she was a princess; neither did the good man and his wife, until, one day, when some ambassadors of the great King, her Father, came to tell them.

    These men came to the door of the little house one morning, and announced that they had been sent by the King who was above all other kings of the earth. They told of the goodness and wisdom of the King; gave instructions that they had been commanded to give, telling the father and mother of Merri Eyes that she was a princess in the Kingdom of the Great King. She had been given to them to teach and train so that she would become perfect. These representatives of the King showed the wisdom of the King in sending His daughter to them for the training she needed, and they promised that Merri Eyes would go to a place where more princes and princesses, other brother and sisters, would gather to learn more about the King and receive instruction from Him.

    After this, Merri Eyes was very happy and lived day by day, hoping that one of the ships passing by would stop and taker her away where she would meet these other brothers and sisters. She worked and studied and tried to do as the King commanded, until, one day, she was taken away to a land that was strange and new. She had come to the place where many brothers and sisters dwelt, and here they offered praise to the goodness and wisdom of the King.

    Here in the new land, Merri Eyes had many wonderful experiences, some pleasant and some unpleasant, but all helping to make her strong in spirit, teaching lessons that could be learned in no other way.

    She knew the command of the King that His sons and daughters live not singly and selfishly, but they should make themselves perfect by joining together, to provide tabernacles for other spirits to dwell in, and fulfill the purpose of the King to give all His children and chance to become perfect.

    A long time she waited for the man her Father had appointer for her, to come. Often she became discouraged with the wait. But the King had promised that he would come to her and she believed the word of the King. Many come to love her, many rich and great. Some of the favored princes wanted her, but she knew none of them was the one of the promise, and being wise and good, she waited still.

    One day Princes Merri Eyes journeyed to a great and noisy city to join some brothers and sisters in their praises to their Heavenly King. At that time she met one brother who was a scholar in the school of mechanics, and she knew she had found the one her Father and King had appointed unto her.

    The scholar, being poor, and less wise than she, did not know this at first. But after he had been favored by the princess and had visited her in her little white castle, which was hidden behind a hill and guarded by the arms of a friendly oak tree, he too, knew that this was his destiny.

    Then they were both happy in the love they had for each other, and the King, and each drew great joy from the promise of the other of eternal fidelity.