legs and upset the tray from off his
head; I will lay hold of the rolls, and will carry them off to our
master.' No sooner said than done. Together the two faithful creatures
trotted off into the town, and very soon they met a baker bearing a tray
on his head, and looking round on all sides, while he cried:

'Fresh rolls, sweet cake,
Fancy bread of every kind.
Come and buy, come and take,
Sure you'll find it to your mind,'

At that moment Schurka made a rush between his legs--the baker stumbled,
the tray was upset, the rolls fell to the ground, and, while the man
angrily pursued Schurka, Waska managed to drag the rolls out of sight
behind a bush. And when a moment later Schurka joined her, they set off
at full tilt to the stone tower where Martin was a prisoner, taking the
rolls with them. Waska, being very agile, climbed up by the outside to
the grated window, and called in an anxious voice:

'Are you alive, master?'

'Scarcely alive--almost starved to death,' answered Martin in a weak
voice. 'I little thought it would come to this, that I should die of
hunger.'

'Never fear, dear master. Schurka and I will look after you,' said
Waska. And in another moment she had climbed down and brought him back a
roll, and then another, and another, till she had brought him the whole
tray-load. Upon which she said: 'Dear master, Schurka and I are going
off to a distant kingdom at the utmost ends of the earth to fetch you
back your magic ring. You must be careful that the rolls last till our
return.'

And Waska took leave of her beloved master, and set off with Schurka
on their journey. On and on they travelled, looking always to right
and left for traces of the Princess, following up every track, making
inquiries of every cat and dog they met, listening to the talk of every
wayfarer they passed; and at last they heard that the kingdom at the
utmost ends of the earth where the twelve youths had borne the Princess
was not very far off. And at last one day they reached that distant
kingdom, and, going at once to the palace, they began to make friends
with all the dogs and cats in the place, and to question them about
the Princess and the magic ring; but no one could tell them much about
either. Now one day it chanced that Waska had gone down to the palace
cellar to hunt for mice and rats, and seeing an especially fat, well-fed
mouse, she pounced upon it, buried her claws in its soft fur, an