saying, the head steward led him to the head cook's room.

'Sir,' asked Jem, as he bowed till his nose nearly touched the floor,
'do you want an experienced cook?'

The head cook looked him over from head to foot, and burst out laughing.

'You a cook! Do you suppose our cooking stoves are so low that you can
look into any saucepan on them? Oh, my dear little fellow, whoever sent
you to me wanted to make fun of you.'

But the dwarf was not to be put off.

'What matters an extra egg or two, or a little butter or flour and spice
more or less, in such a house as this?' said he. 'Name any dish you wish
to have cooked, and give me the materials I ask for, and you shall see.'

He said much more, and at last persuaded the head cook to give him a
trial.

They went into the kitchen--a huge place with at least twenty
fireplaces, always alight. A little stream of clear water ran through
the room, and live fish were kept at one end of it. Everything in the
kitchen was of the best and most beautiful kind, and swarms of cooks and
scullions were busy preparing dishes.

When the head cook came in with Jem everyone stood quite still.

'What has his highness ordered for luncheon?' asked the head cook.

'Sir, his highness has graciously ordered a Danish soup and red Hamburg
dumplings.'

'Good,' said the head cook. 'Have you heard, and do you feel equal to
making these dishes? Not that you will be able to make the dumplings,
for they are a secret receipt.'

'Is that all!' said Jem, who had often made both dishes. 'Nothing
easier. Let me have some eggs, a piece of wild boar, and such and such
roots and herbs for the soup; and as for the dumplings,' he added in a
low voice to the head cook, 'I shall want four different kinds of meat,
some wine, a duck's marrow, some ginger, and a herb called heal-well.'

'Why,' cried the astonished cook, 'where did you learn cooking? Yes,
those are the exact materials, but we never used the herb heal-well,
which, I am sure, must be an improvement.'

And now Jem was allowed to try his hand. He could not nearly reach up to
the kitchen range, but by putting a wide plank on two chairs he managed
very well. All the cooks stood round to look on, and could not help
admiring the quick, clever way in which he set to work. At last, when
all was ready, Jem ordered the two dishes to be put on the fire till he
gave the word. Then he began to count: 'One, two, three,' till he got to
five hundred when he cr