ved the
life of my child, but you have also freed the country from a terrible
scourge; therefore, it is only fitting that you should be richly
rewarded. Take, therefore, my daughter for your wife; but as she is
still so young, do not let the marriage be celebrated for another year.'

The coachman thanked the King for his graciousness, and was then led
away to be richly dressed and instructed in all the arts and graces that
befitted his new position. But the poor Princess wept bitterly, though
she did not dare to confide her grief to anyone. When the year was over,
she begged so hard for another year's respite that it was granted to
her. But this year passed also, and she threw herself at her father's
feet, and begged so piteously for one more year that the King's heart
was melted, and he yielded to her request, much to the Princess's joy,
for she knew that her real deliverer would appear at the end of the
third year. And so the year passed away like the other two, and the
wedding-day was fixed, and all the people were prepared to feast and
make merry.

But on the wedding-day it happened that a stranger came to the town with
three black dogs. He asked what the meaning of all the feasting and fuss
was, and they told him that the King's daughter was just going to be
married to the man who had slain the terrible dragon. The stranger at
once denounced the coachman as a liar; but no one would listen to him,
and he was seized and thrown into a cell with iron doors.

While he was lying on his straw pallet, pondering mournfully on his
fate, he thought he heard the low whining of his dogs outside; then an
idea dawned on him, and he called out as loudly as he could, 'Mustard,
come to my help,' and in a second he saw the paws of his biggest dog at
the window of his cell, and before he could count two the creature had
bitten through the iron bars and stood beside him. Then they both let
themselves out of the prison by the window, and the poor youth was free
once more, though he felt very sad when he thought that another was to
enjoy the reward that rightfully belonged to him. He felt hungry too,
so he called his dog 'Salt,' and asked him to bring home some food. The
faithful creature trotted off, and soon returned with a table-napkin
full of the most delicious food, and the napkin itself was embroidered
with a kingly crown.

The King had just seated himself at the wedding-feast with all his
Court, when the dog appeared and licke