Page:Cuthbert Bede - The White Wife.djvu/45

26 hands!" and she walked by and looked at them. And when she came to the young herd, she perceived that the top of his little finger had been clipped. So she said that he was the man; and they got themselves married; and the King made a great rejoicing.

Now, in the midst of his joy, the young herd had well-nigh forgotten his promise to his brethren. So, as the time had nearly come, he got himself a swift steed, and he rode away till he came to the spot where the twelve roads divided. And there he found his eleven brethren, and they were all weeping, for they thought that the youngest of them was dead. Then he made himself known to them, and told them how he had slain a Dragon, and gotten a King's daughter to wife.

And the brethren told him what had befallen them; and they amused each other for some time. Then they proposed to go and see if their parents were alive; but that they would not let themselves be known unto them. So they went, and they found them alive. And their parents told them, "We had once twelve sons; but they are all dead. And since they died, we have never