g
the road and carrying the head of a cow, so he followed him. The old
man went into the house of a friend, leaving the cow's head hanging
on the fence. Shell climbed up the fence and got into the cow's ear,
keeping very quiet. When the old man came out of the house he took
the head and continued his walk. As he reached a desert place called
Cahana-an, the head began to say: "Ay! Ay!" The old man became so
frightened that he threw the head away, and Shell carried it home.

Days passed. Shell told his mother that he was in love with a beautiful
daughter of the chief and must have her for his wife. The poor mother
was amazed and did not want to present his request to the chief. "My
dear Shell," she said, "you are beside yourself." But he urged her
and urged her, until at last she went. She begged the chief's pardon
for her boldness and made known her errand. The chief was astonished,
but agreed to ask his daughter if she were willing to take Shell for
a husband. Much to his surprise and anger she stated that she was
willing to marry him. Her father was so enraged that he exclaimed:
"I consider you as being lower than my servants. If you marry this
Shell I will drive you out of the village." But Shell and the girl
were married, and escaped from the town to a little house in the
fields, where they lived in great sorrow for a week. But at the end
of that time, one night at midnight, the shell began to turn into a
good-looking man, for he had been enchanted at his birth by an evil
spirit. When his wife saw how handsome he was, she was very glad,
and afterwards the chief received them back into his favor.

CHAPTER 10

The Three Brothers.

Once upon a time there was a great king who had three sons. The oldest
was named Pedro, the next Pablo, and the youngest Juan. One day their
father called them to him, and giving each one a small sum of money,
said: "Go and seek for yourselves wives, for I am getting old and
wish to see you settled down before I die. The one who gets the most
beautiful wife shall have the kingdom. In addition to the money I
have given you, you may each have a horse from my stables."

Pedro and Pablo rushed off and secured the best horses, so that when
Juan, who had stopped to thank his father, arrived at the stable,
he found only an old horse, scarcely able to walk. However, he
determined to set out; but after getting a mile or so from home, he
saw that it was impossible to go farther, so sat down on