"But who is the Porcelain Maiden, and where is she?" he asked.

"That is what you are to find out," said they; and they drove him out of the log hut and slammed the door behind him.

As he was going through the wood, feeling very sad, the White Rabbit met him.

"What is the matter, my laddie?" he asked.

"They will not let me have the Golden Blackbird unless I find the Porcelain Maiden and bring her to them," said Princet.

"Foolish boy," said the White Rabbit; "if you had only done what I told you, this would not have happened. The Golden Blackbird doesn't belong to the people of the castle, but to the first one who is wise enough to carry him away. If you had not put him into the golden cage, he would have kept still, and you might have carried him away; and then he would have been rightfully your own."

"But what about the Porcelain Maiden?" cried Princet.

"Ah, yes! The Porcelain Maiden sits on a shelf in the Queen's pantry, two hundred miles from here. She is very pretty, but she is deaf and dumb. If you can only make her sing, she will lose her deafness and come with you."

"I will try," said Princet; "but how am I to find her?"

"Get on my back, and I'll carry you to her," said the White Rabbit.

Away he went, leaping seven miles at every leap, and in half an hour they were close by a beautiful palace.

Princet looked through the open doors and saw many costly and wonderful things.

"This is the Queen's china pantry," said the White Rabbit, "and there is the Porcelain Maiden sitting on the top shelf. When you carry her back to the castle, don't be foolish. Remember that the Golden Blackbird is yours if you are wise enough to carry him away. So take him in one hand and the golden cage in the other, and walk away with them. You have the right to do this, and nobody will hinder you. Good by."

Princet was sorry to see the White Rabbit hop away, but he was gone before he could speak. All this time the Porcelain Maiden sat on her shelf and looked straight before her, for she had not heard a word. Princet thought that she was the prettiest little lady he had ever seen. But how was he going to make her sing? All at once he leaped through the door of the pantry, and screamed:

"Booh!"

This so startled the Porcelain Maiden that she lost her balance and came tumbling down from her shelf to the floor. As soon as her feet touched the floor, she began to sing:

And there she stood before Princet, as pretty as any princess and ten times more charming.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Princet," he answered, "and I want you to go with me to get the Golden Blackbird to take to my father, who is very sick."

"Certainly I will go with you," she said.

But it was two hundred miles back to the castle, and the Porcelain Maiden could not walk so far; so Princet bought a little horse for her to ride upon, and then they sped through the woods at a wondrous rate.

When at last they reached the little log hut close to the white castle, there sat the Golden Blackbird, stiff and cold, on his perch, and the golden cage hung empty on the wall. Princet was not going to be foolish this time. He took the bird in one hand and the cage in the other, and walked away with them; and the Porcelain Maiden sat on her little horse, and rode merrily along behind him.

"Now my father will soon be well again," said Princet; and the seven hundred miles did not seem to be more than seven, he was so happy.

One evening they came to an inn by the roadside.

"Come in and rest a little while," said the landlord.

"Yes, come in and rest a little while," said two young men who were looking out from a window above.

"No, I will not," said Princet; "my father is very sick, and I am taking the Golden Blackbird to him; for it is the only thing in the world that can cure him."

"Ah! is it you, little Princet?" said his brothers. "What a lucky fellow you are!" And then they begged him to pay their debts and set them free.

Of course, Princet could not leave them there; and so he paid their debts, and all started homeward together.

But the two elder brothers were angry because they had not found the Golden Blackbird themselves; and as they were going along the bank of a river they seized Princet and threw him into the water. They were quite sure that he could never get out, and so they went on without looking back. One of them carried the bird and the cage, and the other led the little horse on which sat the Porcelain Maiden.

But Princet was not drowned. When he fell into the water, he sank to the very bottom. The next minute, however, he rose to the top and seized hold of some reeds which grew close to the bank. Then he began to shout for help as loud as he could. Pretty soon the White Rabbit came running towards him.

"Seize hold of my leg," he cried, "and I will pull you out."

When Princet was safe on shore, the White Rabbit said:

"Now, my little laddie, since you have served your father so well, it is not right that your big brothers should treat you in this way. Dress yourself up as a stable boy and go and offer to work for your father. Things will turn out well for you if you are wise."

Then he bowed and hopped away, and Princet never saw him again.

It was not much trouble for the lad to make himself look like a stable boy. All he had to do was to swap clothing with the first plow boy he met; and then, after he had made his face very dirty, nobody would have known him. The next day he went to his father's palace and asked if a stable boy was wanted.

"Yes: we want a good one," said the coachman; "for the master's sons have just brought home a little horse that nobody can touch. He has already kicked the gardener and two stable boys almost to death; and unless something is done he will soon tear down the whole barn."

"I am not afraid of him," said Princet; and as soon as he went into the stable the little horse became as gentle as a lamb.

"That is very strange," said everybody.

"Perhaps he knows me," said Princet.

"If some one could only manage the Porcelain Maiden as well," said the master of the house, "we should all feel a good deal safer."

"The Porcelain Maiden? Who is she?" asked the lad.

"She is a pretty little lady whom the master's sons have just brought from the land of Nobody-knows-where," was the answer. "But she is a terror. She bites and scratches and screams all the time; and she has broken every piece of china in my lady's pantry. Unless something is done, she will soon tear down the whole house."

"I should like to see her," said Princet.

As soon as he went into the room where she was, the Porcelain Maiden ran towards him and began to laugh and sing. Then she courtesied gently to the company, and spoke to Princet in a way which was so becoming and sweet that everybody said she was the most perfect little lady in the world.

"How very strange!" said the master of the house.

At that moment the Golden Blackbird, who had been as stiff and cold as lead, flew down from his perch on the wall, and lighted on Princet's shoulder. Then he began to sing a most wonderful song.

"It seems that the Porcelain Maiden and the Golden Blackbird both know the stable boy," said the lords and ladies, who had come in from the breakfast room.

"Yes, and the Porcelain Maiden can tell the truth about it if she will," said Princet.

Then the Porcelain Maiden courtesied again, and told the whole story of Princet and the Golden Blackbird, just as I have told it to you. And while she was speaking, everybody listened, and the great room was so still that you could have heard a pin drop on the floor. And when she had finished, there was a clapping of hands, and then a great shout, and Princet's father walked into the room, feeling as well as he had ever felt in his life.

"Welcome, my own Princet!" he said.

Do you want to know what became of the elder brothers? Well, I will leave that for you to guess; but you may be sure that they got what they deserved. As for Princet and the Golden Blackbird and the Porcelain Maiden, they got what they deserved, too.