king rode up.

'What fine pigs!' he said, reining in his horse. 'They are fatter than
any I have got on my farms. Whose are they?'

'Count Piro's,' answered the swineherd, who did not know the king; and
again the king felt he was lucky to have such a rich son-in-law.

This time the fox ran faster than before, and in a flowery meadow he
found a troop of horses feeding. 'Whose horses are these?' he asked of
the man who was watching them.

'An ogre's,' replied he.

'Hush!' whispered the fox, 'do you see that crowd of armed men coming
towards us? If you tell them the horses belong to an ogre they will
drive them off, and then the ogre will kill you! If they ask, just say
they are Count Piro's; it will be better for everybody.' And he ran on
again.

In a few minutes the king rode up.

'Oh, what lovely creatures! how I wish they were mine!' he exclaimed.
'Whose are they?'

Count Piro's,' answered the man, who did not know the king; and the
king's heart leapt as he thought that if they belonged to his rich
son-in-law they were as good as his.

At last the fox came to the castle of the ogre himself. He ran up the
steps, with tears falling from his eyes, and crying:

'Oh, you poor, poor people, what a sad fate is yours!'

'What has happened?' asked the ogre, trembling with fright.

'Do you see that troop of horsemen who are riding along the road? They
are sent by the king to kill you!'

'Oh, dear little fox, help us, we implore you!' cried the ogre and his
wife.

'Well, I will do what I can,' answered the fox. 'The best place is for
you both to hide in the big oven, and when the soldiers have gone by I
will let you out.'

The ogre and ogress scrambled into the oven as quick as thought, and the
fox banged the door on them; just as he did so the king came up.

'Do us the honour to dismount, your Majesty,' said the fox, bowing low.
'This is the palace of Count Piro!'

'Why it is more splendid than my own!' exclaimed the king, looking round
on all the beautiful things that filled the hall. But why are there no
servants?'

'His Excellency the Count Piro wished the princess to choose them for
herself,' answered the fox, and the king nodded his approval. He then
rode on, leaving the bridal pair in the castle. But when it was dark and
all was still, the fox crept downstairs and lit the kitchen fire, and
the ogre and his wife were burned to death. The next morning the fox
said to Count Piro:

'Now that you are