“‘Alas, your Majesty,’ cried the man, preparing to fall on his knees and beg for mercy, ‘a nest that wouldn’t fit a sparrow might chance to fit a crow.’
AS HE DID SO, A CROW HOPPED OUT
“‘You certainly have gifts,’ remarked the King as he lifted the cover from the basket. As he did so a crow hopped out and went stalking about the room. The man was more astonished than the King. In his fright he had hit on an old saying that he had often heard, and it saved his life.
“The Prince gave the man a purse of gold and he was about to retire, when suddenly an attendant came running into the chamber crying that some one had stolen the beautiful diamond ring belonging to the Princess Myla.
“‘Tell the Princess to trouble herself no further. We have here a man who will be able to find it,’ said the King.
“‘Allow me a little time, your Majesty,’ cried the man, who was now frightened nearly out of his wits. ‘Let me go into a vacant room in a quiet part of the palace, where I may have an opportunity to look into this matter.’
“He was soon placed in a room near the servants’ quarters, the attendants telling him that he would be summoned by the King in an hour. He went into the room, shut the door, and flung himself on the floor, bewailing his unhappy condition.
“Now the ring had been stolen by one of the women in attendance on the Princess. She was so pale and sad-looking that her companions had nicknamed her Misery, and sometimes the Princess herself, in a spirit of fun, called her by that name. She had heard how the conjurer had discovered the stolen horse, and she had seen him name the crow in the covered basket. Consequently she was very much frightened when she heard the King command him to find the stolen ring. She saw the conjurer go into the room, and after a while she crept to the door to listen, so great was her fear.
“The man in the room was not thinking of the stolen ring at all. He was merely bewailing his unhappy lot.