Happily Jonas heard his cry of distress, for Walter was quite near the mill now, and he ran and helped him up. ‘What has happened?’ he asked. ‘Why did Walter scream so terribly?’ ‘A wolf! A wolf!’ cried Walter, and that was all he could say. ‘Where is the wolf?’ said Jonas. ‘I don’t see any wolf.’ ‘Take care, he is here, he has bitten me to death,’ groaned Walter. Then Jonas began to laugh; yes, he laughed so that he nearly burst his skin belt. Well, well, was that the wolf? Was that the wolf which Walter was to take by the neck and shake and throw down on its back, no matter how much it struggled? Just look a little closer at him: he is your old friend, your own good old Caro. I quite expect he found a leg of the ram in the kiln. When Walter beat his drum, Caro crept out, and when Walter ran away, Caro ran after him, as he so often does when Walter wants to romp and play. ‘Down, Caro! you ought to be rather ashamed to have put such a great hero to flight!’ Walter got up feeling very foolish. ‘Down, Caro!’ he said, both relieved and annoyed. ‘It was only a dog, then if it had been a wolf I certainly should have killed him....’ ‘If Walter would listen to my advice, and boast a little less, and do a little more,’ said Jonas, consolingly. ‘Walter is not a coward, is he?’ ‘I! You shall see, Jonas, when we next meet a bear. You see I like so much better to fight with bears.’ ‘Indeed!’ laughed Jonas. ‘Are you at it again? ‘Dear Walter, remember that it is only cowards who boast; a really brave man never talks of his bravery.’ From Z. Topelius. The King of the Waterfalls When the young king of Easaidh Ruadh came into his kingdom, the first thing he thought of was how he could amuse himself best. The sports that all his life had pleased him best suddenly seemed to have grown dull, and he wanted to do something he had never done before. At last his face brightened. ‘I know!’ he said. ‘I will go and play a game with the Gruagach.’ Now the Gruagach was a kind of wicked fairy, with long curly brown hair, and his house was not very far from the king’s house. But though the king was young and eager, he was also prudent, and his father had told him on his deathbed to be very careful in his dealings with the ‘good people,’ as the fairies were called. Therefore before going to the Gruagach the king sought out a wise man of the countryside. ‘I am wanting to play a game with the curly-haired Gruagach,’ said he. ‘Are you, indeed?’ replied the wizard. ‘If you will take my counsel, you will play with someone else.’ ‘No; I will play with the Gruagach,’ persisted the king. ‘Well, if you must, you must, I suppose,’ answered the wizard; ‘but if you win that game, ask as a prize the ugly crop-headed girl that stands behind the door.’ ‘I will,’ said the king. So before the sun rose he got up and went to the house of the Gruagach, who was sitting outside.