man; for
as the prince was dressed like a poor man, he could not tell that he was
a king's son. 'I need someone to weed the ground and to sweep the dead
leaves from the paths. You shall have a florin a day, a horse to help
you to cart the leaves away, and food and drink.'

So the prince consented, and set about his work. But when his food was
given to him he only ate half of it; the rest he carried to the vaulted
hall beside the brook, and gave to the black horse. And this he did
every day, and the horse thanked him for his faithful friendship.

One evening, as they were together, after his work in the garden was
over, the horse said to him: 'To-morrow a large company of princes and
great lords are coming to your king's palace. They are coming from far
and near, as wooers for the three princesses. They will all stand in a
row in the courtyard of the palace, and the three princesses will come
out, and each will carry a diamond apple in her hand, which she will
throw into the air. At whose-soever feet the apple falls he will be the
bridegroom of that princess. You must be close by in the garden at your
work. The apple of the youngest princess, who is much the most beautiful
of the sisters, will roll past the wooers and stop in front of you. Pick
it up at once and put it in your pocket.'

The next day, when the wooers were all assembled in the courtyard of the
castle, everything happened just as the horse had said. The princesses
threw the apples into the air, and the diamond apple of the youngest
princess rolled past all the wooers, out on to the garden, and stopped
at the feet of the young gardener, who was busy sweeping the leaves
away. In a moment he had stooped down, picked up the apple and put it in
his pocket. As he stooped the scarf round his head slipped a little to
one side, and the princess caught sight of his golden hair, and loved
him from that moment.

[Illustration: The Gardener gets the Apple]

But the king was very sad, for his youngest daughter was the one he
loved best. But there was no help for it; and the next day a threefold
wedding was celebrated at the palace, and after the wedding the youngest
princess returned with her husband to the small hut in the garden where
he lived.

Some time after this the people of a neighbouring country went to war
with the king, and he set out to battle, accompanied by the husbands of
his two eldest daughters mounted on stately steeds. But the husband of
the yo