o sit along with himself. The prince
begged to be allowed to sit in the other carriage, and when they were
half-way he opened his snuff-box. 'Master,' says he, 'I'd wish to be
dressed now according to my rank.' 'You shall be that,' says _Seven
Inches_. 'And now I'll bid you farewell. Continue as good and kind as
you always were; love your wife; and that's all the advice I'll give
you.' So _Seven Inches_ vanished; and when the carriage door was opened
in the yard, out walks the prince as fine as hands could make him, and
the first thing he did was to run over to his bride and embrace her.

Every one was full of joy but the two other princes. There was not much
delay about the marriages, and they were all celebrated on the one day.
Soon after, the two elder couples went to their own courts, but the
youngest pair stayed with the old king, and they were as happy as the
happiest married couple you ever heard of in a story.

From 'West Highland Tales.'

_THE STORY OF A VERY BAD BOY_

ONCE upon a time there lived in a little village in the very middle of
France a widow and her only son, a boy about fifteen, whose name was
Antoine, though no one ever called him anything but Toueno-Boueno. They
were very poor indeed, and their hut shook about their ears on windy
nights, till they expected the walls to fall in and crush them, but
instead of going to work as a boy of his age ought to do, Toueno-Boueno
did nothing but lounge along the street, his eyes fixed on the ground,
seeing nothing that went on round him.

'You are very, very stupid, my dear child,' his mother would sometimes
say to him, and then she would add with a laugh, 'Certainly _you_ will
never catch a wolf by the tail.'

* * * * *

One day the old woman bade Antoine go into the forest and collect enough
dry leaves to make beds for herself and him. Before he had finished it
began to rain heavily, so he hid himself in the hollow trunk of a tree,
where he was so dry and comfortable that he soon fell fast asleep. By
and bye he was awakened by a noise which sounded like a dog scratching
at the door, and he suddenly felt frightened, _why_ he did not know.
Very cautiously he raised his head, and right above him he saw a big
hairy animal, coming down tail foremost.

'It is the wolf that they talk so much about,' he said to himself, and
he made himself as small as he could and shrunk into a corner.

The wolf came down the i