"Give grandmother this spindle," she said; "by this she will know that you are my husband."
And the wife showed him the way. Emelian left the town and saw some soldiers drilling. He stopped and watched them. The soldiers finished their drill and sat down to rest. Emelian approached them and asked, " Can you tell! me, mates, how to get—to I don't know where and bring—back I don't know what."
The soldiers were perplexed at his words.
"Who sent you?"
they asked.
"The King," he said.
"We too," they said, "since the day we became soldiers want to go to—we don't know where and find—we don't know what, but we've never been able to find it and so cannot help you."
Emelian sat with the soldiers awhile then went on his way. He wandered and wandered till he came to a wood. In the wood was a cottage and in the cottage sat an old woman, a peasant soldier's mother, spinning at her wheel, and she wept as she
