unrewarded!" And the terrible monster was changed into a pretty
little white dog.

The keeper carried the beautiful little dog to the court and told the
story, and from then on, Cherry was carefully treated, and had the best
of everything. But in order to keep the little dog from growing, the
queen ordered that he should be fed very little, and that was pretty
hard for the poor prince. He was often half starved, although so much
petted.

One day he had carried his crust of bread to a retired spot in the
palace woods, where he loved to be, when he saw a poor old woman
hunting for roots, and seeming almost starved.

"Poor thing," he thought, "she is even hungrier than I;" and he ran up
and dropped the crust at her feet.

The woman ate it, and seemed greatly refreshed.

Cherry was glad of that, and he was running happily back to his kennel
when he heard cries of distress, and suddenly he saw some rough men
dragging along a young girl, who was weeping and crying for help. What
was his horror to see that the young girl was Zelia! Oh, how he wished
he were the monster once more, so that he could kill the men and rescue
her! But he could do nothing except bark, and bite at the heels of the
wicked men. That could not stop them; they drove him off, with blows,
and carried Zelia into a palace in the wood.

Poor Cherry crouched by the steps, and watched. His heart was full of
pity and rage. But suddenly he thought, "I was as bad as these men; I
myself put Zelia in prison, and would have treated her worse still, if
I had not been prevented." The thought made him so sorry and ashamed
that he repented bitterly the evil he had done.

Presently a window opened, and Cherry saw Zelia lean out and throw down
a piece of meat. He seized it and was just going to devour it, when
the old woman to whom he had given his crust snatched it away and took
him in her arms. "No, you shall not eat it, you poor little thing,"
she said, "for every bit of food in that house is poisoned."

At the same moment, a voice said, "Good actions never go unrewarded!"
And instantly Prince Cherry was transformed into a little white dove.

With great joy, he flew to the open palace window to seek out his
Zelia, to try to help her. But though he hunted in every room, no
Zelia was to be found. He had to fly away, without seeing her. He
wanted more than anything else to find her, and stay near her, so he
flew out into the world, to seek her.

He