“I am looking for a wife, and I want you to marry me,” said the young king at last.
She looked up at him for a long time and then slowly said: “Yes, I will marry you. But you must take my father, too,” and still she did not know he was the young king.
The king then cried: “I will care for you both,” and then he called to his followers:
“Back to the palace and prepare for my marriage. She is no beggar maid from this on, but a princess who is to be my wife.”
The people were all surprised at first, but when they saw Penelophon, they shouted with joy. There was a great marriage and King Cophetua and his wife lived many years very happily.
THE KIND-HEARTED POLICEMAN
A policeman is the friend of those in need of protection.
Mary and Ellen were two little sisters who lived in a town in sunny England. They loved to wander outside of town in the meadows and gather buttercups and daisies. One day they wandered farther than they had ever been before. They had found such a beautiful land where the wild roses and the hawthorn bushes were white and fragrant, and full of the songs of birds. Just out of reach could be seen a tiny nest, and the children wondered if there were any eggs in it. On and on they wandered, their arms full of bright blossoms.
All at once Mary happened to think of something she had heard some boys say, that “the gypsies were about.” This thought sent a thrill of fear over her, for had she not heard that the gypsies would steal little children?