o up to a
door and knock, and to hear him say, "Dear little sister, let me in."
The door was only opened a little way, and quickly shut; but the
huntsman had seen enough to make him full of wonder, when he returned
and described to the king what he had seen.

"We will have one more chase to-morrow," said the king, "and discover
this mystery."

In the meantime the loving sister was terribly alarmed at finding the
stag's foot wounded and bleeding. She quickly washed off the blood, and,
after bathing the wound, placed healing herbs on it, and said, "Lie down
on your bed, dear fawn, and the wound will soon heal, if you rest your
foot."

In the morning the wound was so much better that the fawn felt the foot
almost as strong as ever, and so, when he again heard the holloa of the
hunters, he could not rest. "Oh, dear sister, I must go once more; it
will be easy for me to avoid the hunters now, and my foot feels quite
well; they will not hunt me unless they see me running, and I don't mean
to do that."

But his sister wept, and begged him not to go: "If they kill you, dear
fawn, I shall be here alone in the forest, forsaken by the whole world."

"And I shall die of grief," he said, "if I remain here listening to the
hunter's horn."

So at length his sister, with a heavy heart, set him free, and he
bounded away joyfully into the forest.

As soon as the king caught sight of him, he said to the huntsmen,
"Follow that stag about, but don't hurt him." So they hunted him all
day, but at the approach of sunset the king said to the hunter who had
followed the fawn the day before, "Come and show me the little cottage."

So they went together, and when the king saw it he sent his companion
home, and went on alone so quickly that he arrived there before the
fawn; and, going up to the little door, knocked and said softly, "Dear
little sister, let me in."

As the door opened, the king stepped in, and in great astonishment saw a
maiden more beautiful than he had ever seen in his life standing before
him. But how frightened she felt to see instead of her dear little fawn
a noble gentleman walk in with a gold crown on his head.

However, he appeared very friendly, and after a little talk he held out
his hand to her, and said, "Wilt thou go with me to my castle and be my
dear wife?"

"Ah yes," replied the maiden, "I would willingly; but I cannot leave my
dear fawn: he must go with me wherever I am."

"He shall remain with you a