The Rajah was very much surprised at what the bangle-seller told him. “This is a strange story,” said he. “I will go with you, for I should like to see this young prince who lives in a cobra’s hole.” So Muchie Rajah went down to the river bank with the bangle-seller. Muchie Lal was there playing close to the cobra’s hole with the young cobras. When he saw the bangle-seller he ran to meet him, calling to him to know whether he had brought the bangles; and the young prince was so exactly like his mother, the beautiful Balna, that the Rajah was filled with joy and sorrow. “Tell me, child,” he cried, “who are you, and who was your mother?” “I am Muchie Lal,” answered the boy, “and my mother is the Ranee Balna, and we live here by the river in the hole of an old seven-headed cobra.” Then Muchie Rajah knelt down by the cobra’s hole and called, “Oh, my dear wife, if it is you, and you are still alive, answer me!” Balna heard his voice down in the cobra’s hole, and came running out and threw herself into his arms. “Oh, I have waited for you so long,” she cried, “but you have come at last, and now I can go back with you to the palace.” So they were very happy. Only the cobra was sad to have them go, and the cobra’s children were grieved to lose their little playmate. But he promised them to come back sometimes and play with them there by the river. Then the Rajah and the Ranee and Muchie Lal all went back to the palace together, and there was great rejoicing. But when the fakir’s wife and her daughter heard that Balna was still alive, and that her husband had found her, they were so frightened that they ran away and hid themselves in the deep forest, and no one has ever heard of them again from that day to this. FOOTNOTE: [1] A long piece of cotton or silk cloth, forming the principal garment of Hindu women. THE MAGIC RICE KETTLE A KOREAN STORY THERE was once an old man who was so poor he was scarcely able to buy food enough to keep him alive. He had never married, and so he had no children, but he had a little dog and cat that lived with him, and these two he loved as though they were his own son and daughter. What little he had was shared with them, and if they were sometimes hungry, it was because he had nothing in the house to eat. One day the old man found that all he had was one scant handful of rice. “Alas, my little dog and cat, what will become of us now?” he cried. “This handful of rice is all that is left to keep us alive. After it is gone, you must seek another master who can feed you better than I. Even if I must starve, that is no reason why you should too.” The little cat mewed, and the dog looked up into his master’s face, as though they had understood all he said to them. The old man put the rice over the fire to cook, and just as it was done, and he was about to feed the animals, the light in the hut was darkened; looking round, he saw a tall stranger standing in the open doorway.