man as she
hurried on.

And sure enough she had not gone a half dozen yards when, right before
her, she saw an apple-tree as full of apples as her plum-tree was full
of plums. It grew in front of a house as much like her own as if the
two were peas in the same pod; and on the porch of the house sat a
little old man.

"A fine tree of apples!" called the old woman as soon as she was in
speaking distance of him.

"Aye, but apple-trees and apples are poor company when a man is
growing old," said the old man; "and I would give them all if I had
even so much as a little dog to bark on my door-step."

"Bow-wow!" called the dog in the old woman's basket, and in less time
than it takes to read this story he was barking on the old man's
door-step, and the old woman was on her way home with a basket of
apples on her arm.

She got there in plenty of time to make the dumpling for supper, and
it was as sweet and brown a dumpling as heart could desire.

"If you try long enough and hard enough you can always have an apple
dumpling for supper," said the old woman; and she ate the dumpling to
the very last crumb; and enjoyed it, too.

THE KING'S SERVANT[4]

There was once upon a time a faithful servant whose name was Hans. He
served the king his master so long and so well that one day the king
said to him:

"Speak, Hans, and tell me what three things do you most desire that I
may give them to you as a reward for your faithfulness."

[Footnote 4: Adapted with a free hand from Grimm's "White Snake."]

It did not take Hans long to answer the king.

"If you please, your majesty," he said, "I should like best in all the
world to go to see my mother; to have a horse on which to ride upon my
journey; and to taste the food that lies hidden in the silver dish
that comes each day to your majesty's table."

And when the king heard this he made haste to send for the silver
dish and lifting the lid with his own hand he bade Hans taste of the
food inside. What this food was, neither I nor anybody else can tell
you, but no sooner had Hans tasted it than he understood what
everything in the world was saying, from the birds in the tree-tops to
the hens in the king's poultry yard.

"Good-bye, Hans," they called as Hans mounted the horse which the king
gave him and rode away through the gate.

"Good-bye," said Hans, and he cantered off in fine style down the
king's highway.

Before he had ridden far, however, he heard such a m