was
hung was another bough much thicker, which he knew could not break with
his weight; and by holding on tight to this with all his four paws, he
could just manage to touch the ball with his tail. He would thus be able
to whisk the ball to and fro till, by-and-by, the string would become
quite loose, and it would fall to the ground. It might take some time,
but the lion's little brother was patient, like most cats.

Well, it all happened just as the cat intended it should, and when the
ball dropped on the ground the cat ran down the tree like lightning,
and, picking it up, tucked it away in the snake's skin round his neck.
Then he began jumping along the shore of the Big Water from one place to
another, trying to find a boat, or even a log of wood, that would take
him across. But there was nothing; only, on the other side, he saw two
girls cooking, and though he shouted to them at the top of his voice,
they were too far off to hear what he said. And, what was worse, the
ball suddenly fell out of its snake's skin bag right into the river.

Now, it is not at all an uncommon thing for balls to tumble into rivers,
but in that case they generally either fall to the bottom and stay
there, or else bob about on the top of the water close to where they
first touched it. But this ball, instead of doing either of these
things, went straight across to the other side, and there one of the
girls saw it when she stooped to dip some water into her pail.

'Oh! what a lovely ball!' cried she, and tried to catch it in her pail;
but the ball always kept bobbing just out of her reach.

'Come and help me!' she called to her sister, and after a long while
they had the ball safe inside the pail. They were delighted with their
new toy, and one or the other held it in her hand till bedtime came, and
then it was a long time before they could make up their minds where it
would be safest for the night. At last they locked it in a cupboard in
one corner of their room, and as there was no hole anywhere the ball
could not possibly get out. After that they went to sleep.

In the morning the first thing they both did was to run to the cupboard
and unlock it, but when the door opened they started back, for, instead
of the ball, there stood a handsome young man.

'Ladies,' he said, 'how can I thank you for what you have done for me?
Long, long ago, I was enchanted by a wicked fairy, and condemned to keep
the shape of a ball till I should meet with t