th be tarred and feathered, and burnt in the public
market-place. It is terrible!' and she moaned and cried.

'Never fear, little mother,' answered Martin; 'trust me, and you will
see all will be well. You may go to sleep with a quiet mind.'

And, stepping to the front of the hut, Martin threw his ring from the
palm of one hand into the other, upon which twelve youths instantly
appeared, and demanded what he wanted them to do. Then he told them the
King's commands, and they answered that by next morning all should be
accomplished exactly as the King had ordered.

Next morning when the King awoke, and looked out of his window, to his
amazement he beheld a magnificent castle, just opposite his own palace,
and joined to it a bridge of pure crystal.

At each side of the bridge trees were growing, from whose branches hung
golden and silver apples, among which birds of Paradise perched. At the
right, gleaming in the sun, were the five golden cupolas of a splendid
church, whose bells rang out, as if they would summon people from all
corners of the earth to come and behold the wonder. Now, though the King
would much rather have seen his future son-in-law tarred, feathered, and
burnt at the stake, he remembered his royal oath, and had to make the
best of a bad business. So he took heart of grace, and made Martin a
Duke, and gave his daughter a rich dowry, and prepared the grandest
wedding-feast that had ever been seen, so that to this day the old
people in the country still talk of it.

After the wedding Martin and his royal bride went to dwell in the
magnificent new palace, and here Martin lived in the greatest comfort
and luxury, such luxury as he had never imagined. But though he was as
happy as the day was long, and as merry as a grig, the King's daughter
fretted all day, thinking of the indignity that had been done her in
making her marry Martin, the poor widow's son, instead of a rich young
Prince from a foreign country. So unhappy was she that she spent all her
time wondering how she should get rid of her undesirable husband.
And first she determined to learn the secret of his power, and, with
flattering, caressing words, she tried to coax him to tell her how he
was so clever that there was nothing in the world that he could not do.
At first he would tell her nothing; but once, when he was in a yielding
mood, she approached him with a winning smile on her lovely face, and,
speaking flattering words to him, she gave hi