Well, Boots did not like that very much, but he did not know how to refuse. “Very well,” said he. “Then that is the bargain.”
The Princess was to hide first, and this is what she did. She changed herself into a white duck and floated on the pond that was behind the castle stable.
Boots hunted for her high and low; he looked everywhere, but he could not find her. Then he went out to Dapplegrim’s stall and told him all about it.
“You should have come to me in the first place,” said Dapplegrim. “Do you take a gun and go out to the pond behind the castle stable. Aim at the white duck that is floating there, as though you meant to shoot it, and you will find the Princess fast enough.”
Boots did as Dapplegrim bade him. He took his gun out to the pond behind the stable, and there, sure enough, was a white duck floating about in the sunshine.
Boots took aim at it as though to shoot. Then the Princess was terribly frightened. “Do not shoot,” she cried; “it is I, the Princess.”
So Boots had found her once.
The next time the Princess hid she turned herself into a loaf of bread, and lay with the other loaves on the kitchen table. Boots hunted for her high and low, but nowhere could he find her. Then he went out to Dapplegrim’s stall.
“What shall I do about it now?” he said. “I have hunted for the Princess everywhere, and still I cannot find her.”
“Why did you not come to me in the first place?” asked Dapplegrim. “Do you take a knife and lay it on the middle loaf that is on the kitchen table, as though to cut it, and you will find the Princess fast enough.”