Now when the prince reached his home--the gardener's hut where he lived
with his wife--he was weary, and he lay down on his bed and slept. And
his wife noticed the handkerchief bound round his wounded leg, and she
wondered what it could be. Then she looked at it more closely and saw in
the corner that it was embroidered with her father's name and the royal
crown. So she ran straight to the palace and told her father. And he and
his two sons-in-law followed her back to her house, and there the
gardener lay asleep on his bed. And the scarf that he always wore bound
round his head had slipped off, and his golden hair gleamed on the
pillow. And they all recognised that this was the hero who had fought
and won so many battles for them.

[Illustration: The Hero discovered]

Then there was great rejoicing throughout the land, and the king
rewarded his son-in-law with half of his kingdom, and he and his wife
reigned happily over it.

_THE LITTLE GRAY MAN_

A nun, a countryman, and a blacksmith were once wandering through the
world together. One day they lost their way in a thick, dark forest, and
were thankful when they saw, in the distance, the walls of a house,
where they hoped they might obtain refuge for the night. When they got
close to the house they found that it was an old deserted castle, fast
falling into ruins, but with some of the rooms in it still habitable. As
they were homeless they determined to take up their abode in the castle,
and they arranged that one of them should always stay at home and keep
house, while the other two went out into the world to seek their
fortunes.

The lot of remaining at home fell first to the nun, and when the
countryman and the blacksmith had gone out into the wood, she set to
work, tidied up the house, and prepared all the food for the day. As her
companions did not come home for their mid-day meal, she ate up her own
portion and put the rest in the oven to keep warm. Just as she was
sitting down to sew, the door opened and a little gray man came in, and,
standing before her, said: 'Oh! how cold I am!'

The nun was very sorry for him, and said at once: 'Sit down by the fire
and warm yourself.'

The little man did as he was told, and soon called out: 'Oh! how hungry
I am!'

The nun answered: 'There is food in the oven, help yourself.'

The little man did not need to be told twice, for he set to work and ate
up everything with the greatest possible despatch. Wh