to herself. "A rooster with wooden
shoes! I'm sure the Princess would love to hear about him! I'll follow
him and see what he does."

He went to a garden where he filled his basket with fresh
vegetables--with onions and beans and garlic. Then he hurried home to a
little house. The girl slipped in after him and hid behind the door.

"Thank goodness, I'm on time!" the rooster murmured.

He put a big bowl on the table and filled it with milk.

"There!" he said. "Now I'm ready for them!"

Presently twelve beautiful pigeons came flying in by the open door.
Eleven of them dipped in the bowl of milk, their feather shirts opened,
and out they stepped eleven handsome youths. But the Twelfth Pigeon
perched disconsolately on the windowsill and remained a pigeon. The
eleven laughed at him and said:

"Poor fellow, your bride betrayed you, didn't she? So you have to remain
shut up in your feather shirt while we go off and have a jolly time!"

"Yes," the Twelfth Pigeon said, "she broke her promise and now she goes
wandering up and down the world hunting for me. If she doesn't find me I
shall nevermore escape the feather shirt but shall have to fly about
forever as a pigeon. But I know she will find me for she will never
stop until she does. And when she finds me, then the enchantment will be
broken forever and I can marry her!"

The eleven youths went laughing arm in arm out of the house and in a few
moments the solitary Pigeon flew after them. Instantly the girl slipped
out from behind the door and hurried home with her pitcher of water.
Then she ran quickly across to the bath-house and all out of breath she
cried to the Princess:

"O Princess, I have such a wonderful story to tell you all about a
rooster with wooden shoes and twelve pigeons only eleven of them are not
pigeons but handsome young men and the twelfth one has to stay in his
feather shirt because--"

At mention of the enchanted pigeons, the Princess turned pale. She held
up her hand and made the girl pause until she had her breath, then she
questioned her until she knew the whole story.

"It must be my love!" the Princess thought to herself. "Thank God I have
found him at last!"

The next day at the same hour she went with the girl to the town well
and when the rooster clattered by in his wooden shoes they followed him
home and slipping into the house they hid behind the door and waited.
Presently twelve pigeons flew in. Eleven of them dipped in the milk a