omancer promised Franz, as a bribe, if he
would decide in his favour, to tell him by means of his art the true
secret of the Princess's dream. Franz swallowed the bait greedily, and
gave his unjust decision. Now, in order that the necromancer might not
fail him, Franz had determined not to let him out of his sight till
the day of trial. Very early in the morning of that day the
necromancer came to Franz and said: "Last night the Princess dreamed
so-and-so--will your worship allow me to go away now?" Franz, on
hearing the dream, skipped with delight, forgetting about his one
foot, and tumbled down on the floor. However, he did not mind that,
and gave the necromancer leave to depart; which that worthy did in
great haste. Franz was so impatient that he was in his place, in front
of the platform, long before the Princess arrived. He could hardly
wait for her to put the formal question before he blurted out:

"Your Highness dreamed that you were walking in your garden, and that
all the trees and shrubs bore gold and silver leaves."

The Princess shook her head. "A very pretty dream," she said; "but it
was not mine." So Franz had to suffer the same punishment as Fritz,
and nobody was at all sorry. He was likewise thrust out of the city
gate, bawling between his howls for some one to bring him the
necromancer. Hans found him there, and tried to comfort him, as he had
tried to comfort Fritz, and with about the same result. When Hans had
returned to the inn, where he and his mother were staying, he was met
with the news that a stranger was waiting to see him. He went in and
found the huntsman who had given him the pellet which turned into the
crystal ball.

"Hans," said the huntsman, as soon as Hans entered the room, "the
unicorn has sent me to you. It's your turn now to try to win the
Princess."

Hans turned pale at the thought.

"I would give my life to win her," he said, earnestly, "but I am
certain to fail, and then what will my poor mother do? I have no
property to be confiscated, and, of course, I shall be sold into
slavery."

"Don't talk of failure," said the huntsman cheerily; "the way to
success is to forget that there is such a word as failure. Now I'll
tell you my plan. The Princess, as you know, or as you very likely
don't know, is devoted to curious animals of all kinds. I will change
you into a white mouse with a gold claw, and will offer you to the
Princess for sale. She has never seen or heard of such a c