oor mare has had nothing to drink; I'll go and lead it to the
river." "That is none of your business," said the landlord; "let the
man do it himself." "Ah, but the poor thing has had nothing to drink.
I'll bring it back soon." So the girl took the mare to the river brink
and let it drink the water; but, by chance, the mare slipped into the
stream, which was so strong that it carried the mare away. And the
young girl ran back to her mother and said, "Oh mother, the mare fell
into the stream and it was carried quite away. What shall we do? What
shall we do?"

When the man came round that morning he said, "Please give me my
mare." "I'm very sorry indeed, sir, but my daughter--that one
there--wanted to give the poor thing a drink and took it down to the
river and it fell in and was carried away by the stream; I'm very
sorry indeed." "Your sorrow won't pay my loss," said the man; "the
least you can do is to give me your daughter." "What, my daughter to
you because of the mare!" "Well, if you don't I will take you before
the justice." Now the landlord didn't like going before the justice.

So after much haggling he agreed to let his daughter go with the man.
And they went along, and they went along, and they went along, till at
last they came to another inn which was kept by the girl's aunt,
though the man didn't know it. So he went in and said, "Can you give
me beds for me and my girl here?" So the landlady looked at the girl
who said nothing, and said, "Well, I haven't got a bed for you but I
have got a bed for her; but perhaps she'll run away." "Oh, I will
manage that," said the man. And he went and got a sack and put the
girl in it and tied her up; and then he went off. As soon as he was
gone the girl's aunt opened the bag and said, "What has happened, my
dear?" And she told the whole story. So the aunt took a big dog and
put it in the sack; and when the man came the next morning he said,
"Where's my girl?" "There she is, so far as I know." So he took the
sack and put it on his shoulder and went on his way for a time. Then
as the sun grew high he sat down under the shade of a tree and thought
he would speak to the girl. And when he opened the sack the big dog
flew out at him, and he fell back, and that's the last I heard of
him.

[Illustration: The Seven-Headed Dragon]

THE KING OF THE FISHES

Once upon a time there was a fisherman who was very poor and felt
poorer still because he had no children. Now one d