t a young Princess could desire. She was so hungry that she at once
sat down to the table, and then she perceived to her surprise that it
was laid for two!

"'Can the bull be coming to sup with me?' she said to herself, half
laughing at the idea. And she added aloud, 'Come if you like, Mr. Bull;
I find your house very pretty, and I thank you for your hospitality.'

"And as she said the words, a voice which somehow seemed familiar to
her, replied,

"'I thank you, gracious Princess, for your permission. Without it I
could not have entered your presence as I do now,' and looking up, she
saw, coming in by another door that she had not noticed, a most
unexpected visitor.

"It was not the bull, it was a young Prince such as our pretty Princess,
who was not without her daydreams, like other young girls, had sometimes
pictured to herself as coming on a splendid horse, with his followers
around him in gallant attire, to ask her of her parents. He was well
made and manly, with a bright and pleasant expression, and dressed, of
course, to perfection. The Princess glanced at her plain black robe in
vexation, and her fair face flushed.

"'I knew not,' she began. 'I thought I should see no one but the brown
bull.'

"The Prince laughed merrily. He was in good spirits naturally, as any
one would be who, after being forced for ten years to wear a frightful
and hideous disguise, and to behave like a rough and surly bull,
instead of like a well-born gentleman, should suddenly find himself in
his own pleasant person again.

"'I _was_ the bull,' he said, 'but you, Princess, have transformed me.
How can I ever show you my gratitude?'

"'You owe me none,' said the Princess gently. 'What I did was to save my
parents and their people. If it has served you in good stead, that for
me is reward enough. But,' she added, 'I wish I had brought some of my
pretty dresses with me. It must look so rude to you to have this ugly
black one.'

"The Prince begged her not to trouble herself about such a trifle--to
him she was beautiful as the day in whatever attire she happened to be.
And then they ate their supper with a good appetite, though it seemed
strange to the Princess to be quite without attendants, sitting alone at
table with a young man whom she had never seen before.

"And after supper a new idea struck her.

"'Catch,' she said, drawing the first ball out of the little pocket in
the front of her dress, where she always carried her ball