ly and before any one
could catch him; so he made his way cautiously to the shelter of a large,
flowering shrub by the roadside.

The coach approached and the iron gates were flung wide. Gabriel plainly
saw a young girl with troubled eyes sitting alone within, and on the seat
opposite an older woman with her back to the horses.

Suddenly, while the carriage still moved slowly outside the gates that
clanged behind it, Gabriel started from his hiding-place and swiftly leaped
to the step of the coach and looked straight into the young girl's eyes.

"Princess," he exclaimed breathlessly, "I know of a golden dog, and they
will not let me"--but by this time the lady-in-waiting was screaming, and
the guard, who recognized Gabriel, rushed forth from the gate and, seizing
him roughly, jerked the boy from the step.

"Unhand him instantly!" exclaimed the princess, her eyes flashing, for the
look Gabriel had given her had reached her heart. "Stop the horses!"

Instantly the coach came to a standstill.

"_I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee_," sounded in Gabriel's ears amid
the roaring in his head, as he found himself free. He did not wait for
further invitation, but jumped back to the coach.

"Stop screaming, Lady Gertrude!" exclaimed the princess.

"But the beggar's hands are on the satin, your highness!" exclaimed the
lady-in-waiting, who had had a hard week and wished there was not a yellow
dog in the world.

"Princess, hear me and you will be glad," declared Gabriel. "I beg for
nothing but to be heard. I believe I know where your dog is and that he
suffers."

No one could have seen and heard Gabriel as he said this, without believing
him. Tears of excitement sprang to his gray eyes and a pang went through
the heart of the princess. How many times she had wondered if her lost pet
had found such love as she gave him!

She at once ordered the door of the coach to be opened and that Gabriel
should enter.

"Your highness!" exclaimed Lady Gertrude, nearly fainting.

"You may leave us if you please," said the princess, with a little smile;
but Lady Gertrude held her smelling-salts to her nose and remained in the
coach, which the princess ordered to be driven through a secluded
wood-road.

Gabriel, sitting beside her on the fine satin cushion, told his story, from
the moment when he found the dingy, brown dog in the hands of the teasing
boys, to the moment when the organ-grinder bore him away.

The hands of the pri