When they reach the land a chestnut horse will dash forward to greet them : the King will wish to mount it , and if he does it will gallop away with him , and disappear into the air , and he will never see his bride again . '' `` Is there no escape for him ? '' asked number two . `` Oh ! yes , if someone else mounts quickly and shoots the horse dead with the pistol that is sticking in the holster , then the young King is saved . But who 's to do that ? And anyone who knows it and tells him will be turned into stone from his feet to his knees . '' Then spake number two : `` I know more than that : even if the horse is slain , the young King will still not keep his bride : when they enter the palace together they will find a ready-made wedding shirt in a cupboard , which looks as though it were woven of gold and silver , but is really made of nothing but sulphur and tar : when the King puts it on it will burn him to his marrow and bones . '' Number three asked : `` Is there no way of escape , then ? '' `` Oh ! yes , '' answered number two : `` If someone seizes the shirt with gloved hands and throws it into the fire , and lets it burn , then the young King is saved . But what 's the good ? Anyone knowing this and telling it will have half his body turned into stone , from his knees to his heart . '' Then number three spake : `` I know yet more : though the bridal shirt too be burnt , the King has n't even then secured his bride : when the dance is held after the wedding , and the young Queen is dancing , she will suddenly grow deadly white , and drop down like one dead , and unless some one lifts her up and draws three drops of blood from her right side , and spits them out again , she will die . But if anyone who knows this betrays it , he will be turned into stone from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet . '' When the ravens had thus conversed they fled onward , but Trusty John had taken it all in , and was sad and depressed from that time forward ; for if he were silent to his master concerning what he had heard , he would involve him in misfortune ; but if he took him into his confidence , then he himself would forfeit his life . At last he said : `` I will stand by my master , though it should be my ruin . '' Now when they drew near the land it came to pass just as the ravens had predicted , and a splendid chestnut horse bounded forward . `` Capital ! '' said the King ; `` this animal shall carry me to my palace , '' and was about to mount , but Trusty John was too sharp for him , and , springing up quickly , seized the pistol out of the holster and shot the horse dead .
Then the other servants XXXXX the King , who at no time looked favorably on Trusty John , cried out : `` What a sin to kill the beautiful beast that was to bear the King to his palace ! ''
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