ve this cask before the taps come out; I have
to keep my thumb in the bunghole."

"Oh, I will do that," said the lord, "if you will only go and get that
man. Take my horse and run him down."

So Will got on the lord's horse and rode off, leaving the nobleman
with his thumb in the bunghole. He waited and he waited and he waited
till at last he drove in the cart back to his house, and there he saw
no less a person than Will himself riding his horse.

Then the noble said unto Will: "You are indeed a Master Thief. Go your
way in peace."

[Illustration: Anima Goes down the Hole]

THE UNSEEN BRIDEGROOM

Once upon a time there was a king and queen, as many a one has been,
and they had three daughters, all of them beautiful; but the most
beautiful of all was the youngest whose name was Anima. Now it
happened one day that all three sisters were playing in the meadows,
and Anima saw a bush with lovely flowers. As she wished to carry it
home to plant in her own garden she plucked at the root and plucked
and plucked again. At last it gave way, and she saw beneath it a
stairway going down farther into the earth. Being a brave girl and
very curious as to where this could lead to, without calling her
sisters, she crept down the stairs for a long, long way, till at last
she came out into the open air again in a country which she had never
seen before, and not far away, in front of her, she saw a magnificent
palace.

Anima ran towards it, and when she came to the door she knocked at the
knocker and it opened without anybody being there. So she went in and
found all inside richly bedecked with marble walls and rich trappings;
and, as she went along, lovely music broke out and came with her
wherever she went. At last she came to a room with cosy couches, and
she threw herself into one because she was tired with her searching.
Scarcely had she done so, when there appeared a table coming towards
her on wheels, without anybody moving it, and upon the table were
delightful fruits and cakes and cool drinks of all kinds. So Anima
took as much as she needed and fell into slumber and did not awake
till it was getting dark. And then appeared through the air two large
candlesticks, each with three candles in them; and they swam through
the air and settled upon the tables near her, so that she had plenty
of light. But she cried out: "Oh, I must go back to my father and
mother; how shall I go? How shall I go?"

Then a sweet voice n