ill take you over all the kingdoms of the
whole wide world."

So the white dog, who was the stronger of the two, took the purse with
the twelve golden coins, and put it in a large wallet which he wore at
his side, and then both the wonderful animals said good-bye. At the
corner of the lane they turned again to look for the last time at their
dwelling, and saw their old master still waving at them from the little
window over the door. Then they fared over the hills and far away.

So wise, so well-bred and good-tempered were these wonderful animals,
that their journey across the world was a great success from the
beginning. Their fame spread from kingdom to kingdom like wild-fire. The
universities, colleges, and other learned societies fought with each
other for the privilege of entertaining these distinguished students. To
this very day, the address which the cat made on catapults and
cataplasms, before the professors of the University of Sagessa, is
remembered as one of the great events of the time; while the dog's
address on dogma before the assembled scholars of the Royal Academy of
Fairyland was printed in a special book bound in gold leaf and walpus
leather. Both the cat and the dog were awarded countless honorary
decorations.

And so, little by little, they came to a hilly land in which all the
streams raced pell-mell to the sea, and there they knew themselves to
be in the Kingdom of the Runaway Rivers. A three days' journey brought
them to the royal castle. Arriving in the twilight, they were somewhat
surprised to find a number of torchbearers waiting for them in the
castle courtyard. With great respect, these attendants conducted the cat
and the dog into a little ante-room, and then retired, leaving them
alone. A few minutes later, a very old woman, who, the animals noticed,
was stone-blind, came to take them before the king.

"How strange!" whispered the cat in its rather meouw-y voice.

"Very," whispered back the dog in his deeper tone.

Having opened, one after the other, three great doors with three
different iron keys, the old woman, guiding herself by touching the wall
with her hand, led the animals into a long dark corridor. The cat, who
could see quite well in the dark, did not mind this, but the dog was not
particularly pleased. The echoes of the old woman's boots went rolling
along in the hollow darkness; the dog could hear his heart beat, and saw
his black companion's eyes glowing like pools of f