beg pardon. And as she so movingly prayed and promised to behave
better, he raised her up and made peace with her. Then she grew very
kind to him, and seemed to love him very much, and he grew so deluded,
that one day he confided to her that even if he were deprived of his
knapsack nothing could be done against him as long as he should keep the
old hat. And when she knew the secret she waited until he had gone to
sleep; then she carried off the hat, and had him driven out into the
streets. Still the horn remained to him, and in great wrath he blew a
great blast upon it, and down came walls and fortresses, towns and
villages, and buried the king and his daughter among their ruins. If he
had not set down the horn when he did, and if he had blown a little
longer, all the houses would have tumbled down, and there would not have
been left one stone upon another. After this no one dared to withstand
him, and he made himself king over the whole country.

RUMPELSTILTSKIN

THERE was once a miller who was poor, but he had one beautiful daughter.
It happened one day that he came to speak with the king, and, to give
himself consequence, he told him that he had a daughter who could spin
gold out of straw. The king said to the miller,

"That is an art that pleases me well; if thy daughter is as clever as
you say, bring her to my castle to-morrow, that I may put her to the
proof."

When the girl was brought to him, he led her into a room that was quite
full of straw, and gave her a wheel and spindle, and said,

"Now set to work, and if by the early morning thou hast not spun this
straw to gold thou shalt die." And he shut the door himself, and left
her there alone.

And so the poor miller's daughter was left there sitting, and could not
think what to do for her life; she had no notion how to set to work to
spin gold from straw, and her distress grew so great that she began to
weep. Then all at once the door opened, and in came a little man, who
said,

"Good evening, miller's daughter; why are you crying?"

"Oh!" answered the girl, "I have got to spin gold out of straw, and I
don't understand the business."

Then the little man said,

"What will you give me if I spin it for you?"

"My necklace," said the girl.

The little man took the necklace, seated himself before the wheel, and
whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round and the bobbin was full; then he
took up another, and whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round,