The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1869-07-15
PLYMOUTH, INDIANA, THURSDAY, JULY Is,

braid, without stirring from the spot If
you can't do it, off comes your head |"
| The prince went back to his room more
| dismal thar ever, but Princess Mary was
already there, and inquired the cause of
his trouble. "Cause enough" he replied
"your father has devised new piece of
work for me-Pm to stitch pair of boots
| with braid. But am 1 a cobbler, pray'
| am kings son, and would rather die
| than go stitching boots for him"
"Dear Prince john" said the princess,
twill you be my husband? l will try to
save yOu-are you willing We will es
| cape together, or perish together! !!
Prince John thought this very good
| idea, and agreed at once.
1--WE must fly instantly" said the prin-
cess, and leading Prince John out of the
room she locked the door, and flung the
| key ever so far Off Then taking the
prince by both hands, she rose up in the
| air with him, and they found themselves
| beside the same lake whence they had de
scended into the underground Kingdom.
| Prince Johns horse was straying about
| the meadow; and as soon as it saw him it
began to prance and neigh, and came gal
| Looping up to him. The prince wasted lit
| lie time in thinking, but lesped on his
horse, set the young lady behind him, and
| went off at full gallop.
Meanwhile, at the appointed hour, the
king sent to call Prince John. The ser
wants found his door locked and when
| they tapped at it, voice like the princes
| answered from within, "I'm coming d.
rectly." They went to tell the king, and
he waited aud waited-but no prince
He sent again, and again there was the
same answer; but still the prince did not
appear; till at last the king got angry,
and babe them drag him out by force.
The servants broke open the door, and
| found nobody within; so they went and
told the king that Prince John was no.
where to be found. The king was so
much put out about this news that he all
but died of vexation. "Quick, and pur
sue him !" roared he; ii he escapes, it
| shall be the worse for you all % So his
MN started in pursuit.
The fugitives were still galloping along
when the princess said, softly, 81 hear a
| trampling" The prince leaned down,
put his ear to the ground, and cried, eyes,
| here they come, and close after usl"
| "Then there's no time to be lost" quoth
she; and forthwith she turned herself into
a river, Prince John into bridge, and the
horse into raven and beyond the river
the highway split into three roads The
| kings men followed the fresh hoof-marks
making sure of Overtaking the prince;
but at the bridge they stopped short, for
| there the traces suddenly ended, and the
road split in three There was nothing
fer it but to ride back and tell the king of
their i'll success. The king flew into a
worse rage than before. "DOnkeys!"
roared he, don't you see that they were
the bridge and the river? How was it
that you didn't find that out? Off with
you-and bring Linn back, do you hears"
| So the pursuers started again.
81 hear trampling." whispered the
princess; and Prince John, after listening
| a moment, replied as before, "Yes, here
| they are close upon us!' Instantly the
| pair vanished, horse and all and in place
| of them appeared dense forest, through
which ran roads and paths innumerable
and in the midst of the forest there was,
as it were, the figure of horse carrying
two riders. The kings men reached the
wood, saw (as they thOught) the two run
aways, and made all speed to Overtake
them On flew the pursuers, and you
| would have thought that in another mo-
| Inent they must seize the unlucky pair !;
out no such thing The horsemen looked
about them and found themselves at the
entrance of the Underground Kingdom,
in the very place whence they had started
in pursuit. In moment everything had
disappeared-horse, riders, thick wood,
, and all.
The pursuers returned empty-handed !;
and the king, when he heard what had
happened, went into greater passion
than ever. "Tll give it to you, you lub-
bers" screeched he. "Nly horse quick
I'll go after him myself and see whether
he can give me the slip!" SO the Under
ground King himself started in pursuit
A third time the princess whispered, II
hear trampling;" and Prince John dis
mounted to listen.
"They're coming" said he, "and pretty
close, too; but somehow the trampling
sounds much louder than it did before"
"Oh dear |" said she, "this must be the
Underground King himself who is coming
after US; but at eil events, yonder is the
boundary of his kingdom, and beyond
that he can not go. Once we get past it
we are SAFE"
The moment they reached the boundary
line Pricess Mary changed herself into a
cave, Prince John into hermit, and the
horse into post, ON which hung little
bell. AT that minute the Underground
King and all his men came galloping up.
"Have you seen any one pass this way,
my good old MANI" asked the king of the
pretended hermit.
"To be sure" answered the hermit :;
"just this minute young man and woman
came riding by, both upon one horse.
They came into my cave to rest, and when
they went away told me to swear / hadn't
seen them in case | happened to fall in
with you"
"Well, there's nothing to be DONE" said
the Underground King, seeing that by
this time Prince John was fairly out of
his reach "my daughter may marry him
if she likes. There's no denying it, he's a
fine lad of prince" And he turned his
horses head, and rode home again,
In the meantime Prince John and Prin-
cess Mary, having no longer any pursuit
to fear, went quietly on their way to the
country of Tsar Berendi, where they were
received by the king and queen with such
Joy as neither had ever felt before. There
was no time lost in deliberation first
came grand feast, and after the feast
wedding. Prince John married the love
ly Princess Mary, and they lived thence
forward happily and prosperously
Prince John helped his father to govern
the kingdom Everything went smooth
ly and well-and that is the end of the
story.