Just then a stable-boy chanced along and seeing the predicament, said:
"Oh, that wheel can be easily mended. Not far from here there lives a
wheelwright, and I am sure he can repair it in a very short time." The
boy then looked about him, and seeing a long pole, said: "We can use
this to support the wagon as it drags along. The road is rugged, and it
will take us about an hour to get there."
"Is there no shorter route?" inquired the Duchess.
"This is the only wagon road; but if you wish, I will lead you along a
shorter path across the fields which will cut the distance in half."
The Duchess thanked him, and asked: "Do you think that we may take this
pole? It seems to me as though some wood-cutter had left it here to prop
a tree."
"Oh, yes," he answered, "it belongs to the wheelwright to whom I am
taking you. All the wood around here belongs to him, and he will be glad
to have this pole so handy." So saying, he hurried to get the pole and
helped the coachman fasten it in place. The horses then drew the
carriage slowly over the rocky road, while the coachman walked
alongside.
The family, however, followed the footpath, which led between tall elms
and blooming shrubbery along the edge of a babbling brook.
The silence was broken now and then by the plaintive song of a
nightingale. The Duchess and her two children seated themselves upon the
trunk of a fallen tree and listened to the music till it ceased. A
gentle wind sighed softly through the leaves of the trees, and merrily
flowed the near-by brook.
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