go home
without the sparkling golden water."

"What want you with the sparkling golden water, which is in my
charge?" asked the unicorn, in his terrible voice.

"I want to buy food and wine and comforts for my mother; who is very
ill," answered Hans, undaunted. But his eyes filled with tears as he
thought of his mother.

The unicorn spoke more gently.

"Have you," he asked, "the crystal ball? Because without it I cannot
allow you to pass to the sparkling golden water."

"The crystal ball!" echoed Hans. "I never heard of such a thing."

"That's a pity," said the unicorn, gravely; "I'm afraid you will have
to go home without the water; but, stay, feel in your pockets. You may
have had the ball, and put it somewhere, and have forgotten all about
it."

Hans smiled at the idea of the crystal ball lying, unknown to him, in
his pockets, but he followed the suggestion of the unicorn; and found,
as he knew he should find, nothing at all, except, indeed, the pellet
of black bread which the stranger-huntsman had given him, and which he
had not thought of from that day to this. "No," he said to the
unicorn, "I have nothing in my pocket, except this pellet," and he was
about to throw it away when the unicorn called out to him to stop.

"Let me see it," he said. "Why," he went on, "this is the crystal
ball--look!"

Hans did look, and sure enough he found in his hand a tiny globe of
crystal. He examined it with amazement. "Well," he said, "all I know
is that a second ago it was a black-bread pellet."

"That may be," said the unicorn, carelessly; "anyhow, it is a crystal
ball now, and the possession of it makes me your servant. It is my
duty to carry you to the fountain of sparkling golden water, if you
wish to go. Have you brought a flask with you?"

"No," said Hans. "Fritz took the only flask we had, and Franz an old
bottle."

"Fritz, eh? Well, follow me a little way." So saying, the unicorn led
Hans to the tree in which his brothers were imprisoned and, motioning
him to be silent, cried out:

"Ho! Master Count, throw out the flask you have with you, if you
please: it is wanted."

"'Shan't," growled Fritz's voice in reply, "unless you promise to let
me out."

"Oh, you won't, won't you?" said the unicorn; "well, we'll see."

With that he drew back a few steps, and then, running forward, thrust
his sharp horn into the side of the hollow trunk from which Fritz's
voice had issued. A loud yell came from the spot, sho