Page:Tales and Legends from the Land of the Tzar.djvu/93

Rh flying after her, ran on faster and faster, till she came to the milky river and jelly banks.

"Hide me! hide me!" she cried, "for the flamingoes are chasing me."

"Taste us first, pretty maiden, and then we will hide you."

She obeyed this time as quickly as she could, and then was told to hide under one of the jelly banks. The flamingoes, not noticing this, flew past; and when they were a good way off, the little girl crept from under the jelly bank, thanked it, promised to recommend it to all her friends, and ran along with her brother in her arms. But the flamingoes soon saw her, and began to fly after her again. What was she to do? Suddenly she remembered the apple-tree, and, running up to it, asked it to hide her.

"Not unless you promise to eat one of my apples," was the reply.

There was no help for it; so the little girl took an apple, and, after she had bitten it, the apple-tree covered her over with leaves and blossoms. The flamingoes, not seeing her, flew past, as before. When she thought the coast was clear, the little girl got out from under the leaves and ran on; but the flamingoes saw her again, and were after her in a moment. They were now just over her head, and if the stove had not been quite so close to where she was, she would have been at a loss to know what to do. She climbed into the stove, and took some of the pastry in with her, and after she had eaten a cake or two, she got out again, while the flamingoes flew past.