"I've heard the shepherds disappear."
"And still you want to try your luck?" the Tsar exclaimed.
Just then the Tsar's only daughter, a lovely Princess, who had been looking at the young stranger, slipped over to her father and whispered:
"But, father, you can't let such a handsome young man as that go off with the sheep! It would be dreadful if he never returned!"
The Tsar whispered back:
"Hush, child! Your concern for the young man's safety does credit to your noble feelings. But this is not the time or the place for sentiment. We must consider first the welfare of the royal sheep."
He turned to the Youngest Prince:
"Very well, young man, you may consider yourself engaged as shepherd. Provide yourself with whatever you need and assume your duties at once."
"There is one thing," the Youngest Prince said; "when I start out to-morrow morning with the sheep I should like to take with me two strong boarhounds, a falcon, and a set of bagpipes."
"You shall have them all," the Tsar promised.