r my father's mill
rattling.'

[Illustration: You Are Mine & I Am Thine--The Iron Stove]

'So you are a miller's daughter! Then go away at once, and tell the
King's daughter to come.'

Then she went away, and told the old King that the thing inside the
iron stove would not have her, but wanted the Princess. The old King
was frightened, and his daughter wept. But they had a swineherd's
daughter who was even more beautiful than the miller's daughter, and
they gave her a piece of gold to go to the iron stove instead of the
Princess. Then she was taken out, and had to scrape for
four-and-twenty hours, but she could make no impression. As soon as
the day broke the voice from the stove called out, 'It seems to be
daylight outside.' Then she answered, 'It seems so to me too; I think
I hear my father blowing his horn.' 'So you are a swineherd's
daughter! Go away at once, and let the King's daughter come. And say
to her that what I foretell shall come to pass, and if she does not
come everything in the kingdom shall fall into ruin, and not one stone
shall be left upon another.' When the Princess heard this she began to
cry, but it was no good; she had to keep her word. She took leave of
her father, put a knife in her belt, and went to the iron stove in the
wood. As soon as she reached it she began to scrape, and the iron gave
way and before two hours had passed she had made a little hole. Then
she peeped in and saw such a beautiful youth all shining with gold and
precious stones that she fell in love with him on the spot. So she
scraped away harder than ever, and made the hole so large that he
could get out. Then he said, 'You are mine, and I am thine; you are my
bride and have set me free!' He wanted to take her with him to his
kingdom, but she begged him just to let her go once more to her
father; and the Prince let her go, but told her not to say more than
three words to her father, then to come back again. So she went home,
but alas! she said _more than three words_; and immediately the iron
stove vanished and went away over a mountain of glass and sharp
swords. But the Prince was free, and was no longer shut up in it. Then
she said good-bye to her father, and took a little money with her, and
went again into the great wood to look for the iron stove; but she
could not find it. She sought it for nine days, and then her hunger
became so great that she did not know how she could live any longer.
And when it was evening she