offed with her cap o' rushes, and
there she was in her beautiful clothes.

Well, the master's son he got well very soon, and they were to be
married in a little time. It was to be a very grand wedding, and
everyone was asked, far and near. And Cap o' Rushes' father was asked.
But she never told anybody who she was.

But before the wedding, she went to the cook, and says she:

"I want you to dress every dish without a mite of salt."

"That'll be rare nasty," says the cook.

[Illustration: "AND THERE SHE WAS IN HER BEAUTIFUL CLOTHES"]

"That doesn't signify," said she.

Well, the wedding day came, and they were married. And after they were
married all the company sat down to the dinner. When they began to eat
the meat, it was so tasteless they couldn't eat it. But Cap o' Rushes'
father tried first one dish and then another, and then he burst out
crying.

"What's the matter?" said the master's son to him.

"Oh!" says he, "I had a daughter. And I asked her how much she loved me.
And she said, 'As much as fresh meat loves salt.' And I turned her from
my door, for I thought she didn't love me. And now I see she loved me
best of all. And she may be dead for aught I know."

"No, father, here she is!" said Cap o' Rushes. And she goes up to him
and puts her arms round him.

And so they were all happy ever after.

[J] From "English Fairy Tales," collected by Joseph Jacobs;
used by permission of G. P. Putnam's Sons.

FULFILLED

It was Christmas eve, and in the great house on the hill there was much
rejoicing and preparation for the feasting on the morrow. A knock came
at the door, and two strangers stood there. "We have lost our way," they
said, "and the night is dark and cold, and we do not know where to go,
and we would be glad to be allowed to stay for the night."

But the farmer and his wife said "No!" very shortly. They had no room
for beggars.

So the strangers went to the foot of the hill where stood the small
cottage of a laborer and his wife. In this house there was much
happiness, but there was no preparation for feasting on the morrow. They
were poor folk, who could not keep the feast.

But when the strangers came the laborer opened the door wide and bade
them enter and draw near the fire and warm themselves. And, because
there was but one bed in the house, the laborer and his wife gave that
to their guests, and themselves slept on straw in an outer room; but,
strange to say, they never