"My brave Medoro," said the Fairy to the Bearded Dog, "go and harness the most beautiful carriage in my stables and take the road to the forest. When you reach the Big Oak you will find a poor half dead marionette stretched out on the ground there. Take him up carefully and bring him here to me. Do you understand?"
The Bearded Dog, to show that he did, shook the cover of his tail three times, and departed in a flash. A few minutes later a beautiful little carriage, all trimmed in canary bird feathers and lined with cream colored plush came from the stables. It was drawn by one hundred pairs of white mice, and the Bearded Dog sat on the coach box and cracked his whip from side to side as a coachman does when he fears he shall be late.
A quarter of an hour had not passed when the carriage returned. The Fairy who was waiting at the door, took the poor marionette in her arms and carried him to a little bed of mother-of-pearl, prepared especially for him. Then she sent post haste for the three most famous doctors in the neighbor-
