Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/207

Rh them; in fact, he became so jolly, and laughed so much, that his sides shook. He then ordered guns to be fired, the bells to be rung, and the kingdom to be lighted up for Prince John's benefit.

Next day Prince John and the fair Princess Helen were married. There was to be a grand feast later, to which the whole population of that kingdom was invited; no one was to be left in the houses except the very old people and the very little babies. The club kept order, the delightful dulcimers played; but when everything was ready, and the feast was at its best, the grey wolf appeared. And this is how it happened:—

After drinking and eating fairly well, King Dymion and the guests heard a tremendous noise outside the palace; so they rushed to the windows to see what it was, and beheld a carriage of pure gold, drawn by eight horses, on which sat trumpeters with trumpets; behind the carriage were six armed footmen on horseback, while at the sides ran six powdered footmen, with gold lace on their red plush uniforms. But the most wonderful thing of all was the coat-of-arms on the carriage door. It consisted of a shield with a wolf's tail on a field sable, surmounted by a count's coronet.

Prince John looked into the carriage window as it stopped before the palace-door, and exclaimed,—

"This is my own dear old grey wolf again!" and he ran out to meet him. He opened the carriage-door himself, and helped his guest out.

After kissing each other very warmly, the prince took the wolf by the paw into the palace, and intro-