hunted all day and found nothing. It had been very hot, and they were thirsty; so they went to a tree which grew on a little piece of high ground, and sent their attendants to search all round for water; but no one could find any. At last one of the hunting dogs came to the foot of the tree quite muddy, and the Rajah said, 'Look, the dog is muddy; he must have found water; follow him, and see where he goes.' The attendants followed the dog, and saw him go to the stream at the mouth of the cave where the two children were; and the children also saw them, and were very much frightened, and ran inside the cave. Then the attendants returned to the two Princes, and said, 'We have found clear, sparkling water flowing past a cave, and, what is more, within the cave are two of the most lovely young ladies that eye ever beheld, clothed in fine dresses and covered with jewels; but when they saw us, they were frightened and ran away.' On hearing this the Princes bade their servants lead them to the place; and when they saw the two young girls, they were quite charmed with them, and asked them to go to their kingdom, and become their wives. The maidens were frightened; but at last the Rajah and his brother persuaded them, and they went, and the Rajah married the eldest sister, and his brother married the youngest.
When the dog returned, she was grieved to find her children gone, and for twelve long years the poor thing ran many, many miles to find them, but in vain. At last one day she came to the place where the two Princesses lived. Now it chanced that the eldest, the wife of the Rajah, was looking out of the window, and seeing the dog run down the street, she said, 'That must be my dear long-lost mother.' So she ran into the street as fast as possible, and took the tired dog in her arms, and brought her into her own room, and made her a nice comfortable bed on the floor, and bathed her feet, and was very kind to her. Then the dog said to her, 'My daughter, you are good and kind, and it is a great joy to me to see you again; but I must not stay, I will first go and see your younger sister, and then return.' The Ranee answered, 'Do not do so, dear mother; rest here to-day, tomorrow I will send and let my sister know, and she too will come and see you.' But the poor, silly dog would not stay, but ran to the house of her second daughter. Now the second daughter was looking out of the window when the dog came to the door, and seeing it, she said to herself, 'That must be my mother. What will my husband think if he learns that this wretched, ugly, miser-
