THE TINDER-BOX
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Mabie, Hamilton Wright, Forbush, William Byron, and Hale, Edward Everett
"Bring the Princess," ordered the soldier, and the dog vanished to do his master's will.
The old dame sat beside the Princess's bed. She had heard all about the Princess's dream.
"Was she dreaming herself now?" she wondered. She pinched herself.—No, she was wide awake, yet she saw a dog, a real dog with eyes as large as saucers, in front of her.
The dog seized the Princess, and ran off; but although he ran very quickly, the old dame found time to put on her goloshes before she followed.
How she panted along! How she ran, the faithful old dame! She was just in time to see the Princess on the dog's back disappear into a large house.
"I shall mark the house, so that I may know it in the morning," she thought. And she took a piece of white chalk and made a great white cross on the door.
Then she walked home and slept.
Soon afterwards the dog carried the Princess back to the copper palace, and noticed the great white cross on the door of the hotel where his master lived.
And what do you think he did? Oh, he was a wise dog. He took a piece of chalk, and he put a great white cross on every door in the town.
Early next morning the King and Queen and all the lords and ladies of the court were astir. They had heard the old dame's story, and were going to see the house with the great white cross.
They had scarcely started, when the King's eyes fell on a great white cross! "Here it is," cried the King eagerly.
"What nonsense you talk, my dear! it is here," said the Queen, for almost at the same moment she too had seen a door with a great white cross.
Then all the lords and ladies cried: "It is here, it is here," as one after another they saw doors marked with great white crosses. The hubbub was terrible, and the poor old dame was quite bewildered. How could she tell which door she had marked? It [page 266] was quite useless. The dog had perplexed everybody, and they went back to the copper palace knowing no more than when they left it.
But the Queen was a clever woman. She could do more than just sit very properly on a throne.
The same evening, she took her big gold scissors and cut up a large piece of silk into small pieces. These she sewed together into a pretty little bag. Then she filled the bag with the finest grains of wheat. With her own hands she tied the bag round the Princess's waist, after which she took her gold scissors again and cut a tiny little hole in the bag, a hole just big enough to let the grains of wheat drop out whenever the Princess moved.
That night the dog came again and carried the Princess off to the soldier, and the soldier wished he were a Prince, for then he would marry this beautiful Princess.
Now although the dog had very big eyes, eyes as large as saucers, he did not notice the tiny grains of wheat as they dropped out all along the road from the palace to the soldier's window. Under the window the dog stopped and climbed up the wall with the Princess, into the soldier's room.
The next morning the King and Queen followed the little grains of wheat and very easily found out where the Princess had been.
Then the soldier was seized and put into prison.
Oh, how dark and tiresome it was! But it was worse than that one day, when they told him he was to be hanged, "hanged to-morrow," they told him.
What a fright the soldier was in, and, worst of all, he had left his tinder-box at the hotel.
Morning came! Through the narrow bars of his little window the soldier could see the people all hurrying out of town. They were going to see him hanged.
He heard the drums, he saw the soldiers marching along. He wished he were marching with them. Alas, alas! that could never be now—
A little shoemaker's apprentice, with a leather apron, came running along. He was in such a hurry that he lost one of his slippers. It fell close under the soldier's window, as he sat peering out through the narrow bars.
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The soldier called to the boy, "There is no hurry, for I am still here. Nothing will happen till I go. I will give you two-pence if you will run to the house where I used to live and fetch me my tinder-box. You must run all the way."
The shoemaker's boy thought he would like to earn twopence, and off he raced to bring the tinder-box.
He found it. "A useless little box," he said to himself, but back he raced with it to the soldier; and then—what do you think happened?
Outside the town the scaffold had been raised, the soldiers were drawn up round it, as well as crowds of people.
The King and Queen were there too, seated on a magnificent throne, exactly opposite the judges and councilors.
The rope was being put round the soldier's neck, when he turned to the King and Queen and earnestly entreated one last favor—only to be allowed to smoke one pipe of tobacco.
What a harmless request! How could the King refuse so harmless a request?
"Yes," said his Majesty, "you may smoke one pipe of tobacco."
The soldier took out his tinder-box, struck a match, once, twice, thrice, and lo! there before him stood the three enormous dogs, waiting his commands.
"Help me," shouted the soldier; "do not let me be hanged."
At once the three terrible dogs rushed at the judges and councilors, tossed them high into the air, so that as they fell they were broken into pieces.
The King began to speak; perhaps he was going to forgive the soldier, but no one knows what he was going to say, for the biggest dog gave him no time to finish his sentence.
He rushed at the King and Queen, flung them high into the air, so that when they fell down, they too were broken all to pieces.
Then the soldiers and the people, who were all terribly frightened, shouted in a great hurry, "Brave soldier, you shall be our King, and the beautiful Princess shall be our Queen!"
And while they led the soldier to the royal carriage the great big dogs bounded along in front.