“Nonsense!” cried Mrs. Meadows.
“Tut—tut!” exclaimed Mr. Rabbit.
“Well,” said Mr. Thimblefinger, “he sent a crier around”—
“A herald, you mean,” suggested Buster John, who had read a good many story books.
“A bailiff could do the work just as well, but you can have it your way. Well,” continued Mr. Thimblefinger, “the Prince’s ministers sent a herald around to inquire at all the people’s houses if any of them had a Cow with Golden Horns, but nobody had such a cow, and everybody wondered what the herald meant. A Cow with Golden Horns! People went about asking one another if they had ever heard of such a thing before. Some said the throne was tottering. Others said the politicians were trying to work a scheme to increase taxation. Still others talked about the peril of the nation. Everybody had some explanation, but nobody had the right one. The poor young Prince was nearly crazy to find the young girl whose picture he had seen in the basin of water.
“For a few days the people heard no more of the matter, but at the end of a week the herald went round the city again declaring that the Prince would marry any young lady who would bring as her marriage portion a Cow with Golden Horns. She need not have riches of any kind; all that was necessary was a Cow with Golden Horns. This word went around among the people and from city to city. Rich men with daughters tried everywhere to buy a Cow with Golden Horns, but all to no purpose.
“The Prince waited and waited and pined and grew thinner. But just as matters were getting to be very serious indeed, an old man appeared in the palace park leading a beautiful white cow with jet black ears and golden horns. The servants set up such a shout when they saw the beautiful cow that everybody in the palace was aroused and all came out to see what caused the noise. Then the servants and attendants ran over one another in their efforts to reach the Prince, who was moping in his room. As they ran they cried:—
“‘The Cow with the Golden Horns has come! The Cow with the Golden Horns has come!’
“The Prince forgot his dignity and hurried out to see the Cow with the Golden Horns. The old man came leading her, and she was, indeed, a beautiful creature. Her head and limbs were almost as delicate as those of a deer, and her eyes were large and soft. Her body was as white as snow, her ears glistened like black silk, and her golden horns shone in the sun. The old man bowed low as he led the beautiful cow forward.
“‘I wouldn’t make much of a bride myself, your Majesty,’ he said. ‘I have brought you the Cow with the Golden Horns. She might find you the bride that I failed to bring you.’