At last they reached the castle which from the blue smocked soldiers that guarded the gateway they knew to be Mikko’s. The Fox came out to welcome the King’s party and behind him in two rows all the household servants. These, at a signal from the Fox, cried out in one voice:
“We are Mighty Mikko’s men!”
Then Mikko in the same simple manner that he would have used in his father’s mean little hut in the woods bade the King and his followers welcome and they all entered the castle where they found a great feast already prepared and waiting.
The King stayed on for several days and the more he saw of Mikko the better pleased he was that he had him for a son-in-law.
When he was leaving he said to Mikko:
“Your castle is so much grander than mine that I hesitate ever asking you back for a visit.”
But Mikko reassured the King by saying earnestly:
“My dear father-in-law, when first I entered your castle I thought it was the most beautiful castle in the world!”
The King was flattered and the courtiers whispered among themselves:
“How affable of him to say that when he knows very well how much grander his own castle is!”