irfeather,
who had told him the like was never heard of at court. Then they found a
pheasant's nest at the root of an old oak, made a meal of roasted eggs,
and went to sleep on a heap of long green grass which they had gathered,
with nightingales singing all night long in the old trees about them.

In the meantime Spare had got up and missed his doublet. Tinseltoes, of
course, said he knew nothing about it. The whole palace was searched,
and every servant questioned, till all the court wondered why such a
fuss was made about an old leathern doublet. That very day things
came back to their old fashion. Quarrels began among the lords, and
jealousies among the ladies. The King said his subjects did not pay him
half enough taxes, the Queen wanted more jewels, the servants took to
their old bickerings and got up some new ones. Spare found himself
getting wonderfully dull, and very much out of place, and nobles began
to ask what business a cobbler had at the King's table; till at last his
Majesty issued a decree banishing the cobbler forever from court, and
confiscating all his goods in favor of Tinseltoes.

That royal edict was scarcely published before the page was in full
possession of his rich chamber, his costly garments, and all the
presents the courtiers had given him; while Spare was glad to make his
escape out of the back window, for fear of the angry people.

The window from which Spare let himself down with a strong rope was that
from which Tinseltoes had tossed the doublet, and as the cobbler came
down late in the twilight, a poor woodman, with a heavy load of fagots,
stopped and stared in astonishment.

"What's the matter, friend?" said Spare. "Did you never see a man coming
down from a back window before?"

"Why," said the woodman, "the last morning I passed here a leathern
doublet came out of that window, and I'll be bound you are the owner of
it."

"That I am, friend," said the cobbler with great eagerness. "Can you
tell me which way that doublet went?"

"As I walked on," the woodman said, "a dwarf called Spy, bundled it up
and ran off into the forest."

Determined to find his doublet, Spare went on his way, and was soon
among the tall trees; but neither hut nor dwarf could he see. At last
the red light of a fire, gleaming through a thicket, led him to the door
of a low hut. It stood half open, as if there was nothing to fear, and
within he saw his brother Scrub snoring loudly on a bed of grass, at th