his attendants,
who seized her and put her in the coach. The door was banged, and the
horses whipped up into a gallop.

At the end of an hour they arrived at a splendid castle, and Tephany,
who would not move, was lifted out and carried into the hall, while a
priest was sent for to perform the marriage ceremony. The young man
tried to win a smile from her by telling of all the beautiful things she
should have as his wife, but Tephany did not listen to him, and looked
about to see if there was any means by which she could escape. It did
not seem easy. The three great doors were closely barred, and the one
through which she had entered shut with a spring, but her feather was
still in her hair, and by its aid she detected a crack in the wooden
panelling, through which a streak of light could be dimly seen. Touching
the copper pin which fastened her dress, the girl sent every one in the
hall to count the cabbages, while she herself passed through the little
door, not knowing whither she was going.

By this time night had fallen, and Tephany was very tired. Thankfully
she found herself at the gate of a convent, and asked if she might stay
there till morning. But the portress answered roughly that it was no
place for beggars, and bade her begone, so the poor girl dragged herself
slowly along the road, till a light and the bark of a dog told her that
she was near a farm.

In front of the house was a group of people; two or three women and the
sons of the farmer. When their mother heard Tephany's request to be
given a bed the good wife's heart softened, and she was just going to
invite her inside, when the young men, whose heads were turned by the
girl's beauty, began to quarrel as to which should do most for her. From
words they came to blows, and the women, frightened at the disturbance,
pelted Tephany with insulting names. She quickly ran down the nearest
path, hoping to escape them in the darkness of the trees, but in an
instant she heard their footsteps behind her. Wild with fear her legs
trembled under her, when suddenly she bethought herself of her necklace.
With a violent effort she burst the clasp and flung it round the neck of
a pig which was grunting in a ditch, and as she did so she heard the
footsteps cease from pursuing her and run after the pig, for her charm
had vanished.

On she went, scarcely knowing where she was going, till she found
herself, to her surprise and joy, close to her aunt's house. For sever