silla had
cheated him, that there never had been any such wonderful cow, and
that she had used this trick in order to become a Princess. Of course,
the King felt more comfortable to believe this, for it accounted
satisfactorily for his own failure to find her, and it is extremely
mortifying for a King to be unable to do anything he sets out to.
So Drusilla was dismissed from the seminary in disgrace, and sent
home. Her jewels and fine clothes were all taken away from her, even
her rick-rack dress, and she put on her blue petticoat and short gown,
and straw flat again. Still, she was so happy at the prospect of
seeing her dear old father again, that she did not mind the loss of
all her fine things much. She did not ride the white palfrey now, but
went home on foot, in the dewy morning, as fast as she could trip.
When she came in sight of the cottage, there was her father sitting in
his old place at the window. When he saw his beloved daughter coming,
he ran out to meet her as fast as he could hobble, and they tenderly
embraced each other.
The King had provided liberally for the old man while Drusilla was in
the seminary, but now that he was so angry at her alleged deception,
his support would probably cease, and, since the gold-horned cow was
lost, it was a question how they would live. The father and daughter
sat talking it over after they had entered the cottage. It was a
puzzling question, and Drusilla was weeping a little, when her father
gave a joyful cry:
"Look, look, Drusilla!"
Drusilla looked up quickly, and there was the milk-white face and
golden horns of the cow peering through the vines in the window. She
was eating some of the pink and white roses.
Drusilla and her father hastened out with joyful exclamations, and
there was the cow, sure enough. A couple of huge wicker baskets were
slung across her broad back, and one was filled to the brim with gold
coins, and the other with jewels, diamonds, pearls and rubies.
When Drusilla and her father saw them, they both threw their arms
around the gold-horned cow's neck, and cried for joy. She turned her
head and gazed at them a moment with her calm, gentle eyes; then she
went on eating roses.
When the King heard of all this, he came with the Queen in a golden
coach, to see Drusilla and her father. "I am convinced now of your
truthfulness," he said majestically, when the Court Jeweler had
examined the cow's horns to see if they were true gold, and no
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