"  How  quickly  you  have  ridden ! "  she  said.  "  Have  you
succeeded  in  getting  the  jewels  ? "

"  Yes,"  replied  the  robber ;  "  but  do  not  let  us  talk  just
now."

The  man  did  not  care  to  expose  himself  just  then,  as
he  was  afraid  the  princess  would  shriek  and  wake  the
servant.  Therefore  he  replied  thus.  He  made  the  horse
go  as  fast  as  it  could,  till  he  arrived  at  the  edge  of  the
forest,  when  he  turned  off  to  a  little  isolated  village,
where  the  princess  wished  to  rest.
"  Go,"  she  said,  "  and  get  some  food.  Fasten  the  horse
to  the  tree  and  go."

So  the  robber  went,  thinking  the  woman  would  never
ride  off  alone,  but  he  was  mistaken.  The  princess  had
been  accustomed  to  ride  ever  since  she  was  a  little  girl,
and  was  not  afraid  to  mount  the  most  restive  steed.
She  therefore  got  upon  the  horse  as  soon  as  the  robber
was  out  of  sight  and  rode  off.  She  rode  for  several
miles,  till  she  came  to  a  goldsmith's  house,  where  she
stopped  and  asked  for  a  drink  of  water.  Fascinated
with  her  beauty,  the  goldsmith  desired  to  marry  her,  and
told  her  so  ;  and  she  agreed  on  the  condition  that  he  gave
her  there  and  then  a  pair  of  gold  earrings  worth  one
hundred  rupees.  At  that  time  the  goldsmith  happened
to  be  making  several  gold  ornaments  for  the  queen,  and
so  had  the  very  thing  she  wanted.  He  thought  he  would
give  them  to  the  woman  and  get  her  to  marry  him,  and
take  them  away  from  her  again  afterwards.
