"Cap O' Rushes" is adapted from "Fairy Tales of the British Isles" by Amabel Williams-Ellis.

Once upon a time, a rich gentleman had three daughters. He wanted to know how much each of his daughters loved him, and so he asked the first, "How much do you love me, dearest?"

She smiled sweetly. "I love you, Father, as I love my life."

Very pleased, the father turned to the second daughter. "How much do you love me, dear daughter?"

"I love you better than all the world," said the second daughter. The gentleman smiled.

Then he turned to his third daughter. "How much do you love me, child?"

She laughed lightly. "I love you as much as fresh meat loves salt, father," she said.

He flew into a rage. "That means you don't love me at all! Go away from here, forever!"

The third daughter could not convince her father that she loved him deeply. So she walked out into the world, taking only three beautiful dresses.

As she traveled, she came upon a watery bog deep in a fen. There, she gathered together an armful of rushes. She plaited these together and made a dress and hood. The dress of rushes covered her from head to toe. She looked nothing like she had before. Next, she hid her three dresses among the reeds, then traveled on a little farther.

When she came to a grand, elegant house, she knocked on the door. "Would you like a maid?" she asked. "I've nowhere else to go, and I ask for no wages. I will do any kind of work if only you will give me shelter."

The servant woman looked her up and down. "If you are telling me the truth, you can scrape the pots and pans, Cap O' Rushes."

From that day on, that was what everyone called her.

Months passed. Cap O' Rushes worked hard and never once complained. Day and night, she scrubbed the pots and pans and cleaned the walls and floors. Her fingers turned dry and sore. Her legs were scraped and scratched. Still, she worked on.

One day, the servants, brimming with excitement, came to her. "Cap O' Rushes, tonight there will be a grand ball. Master says we may attend to look at the people dressed in their fancy clothes."

The servants hurried to finish their work. At sunset, they gathered together, ready to attend the ball. "Are you coming, Cap O' Rushes?" they asked.

Cap O' Rushes shook her head. "I am much too tired."

But after everyone had gone, Cap O' Rushes took off her dress and hood and washed herself in the stream. Then she put on her silver dress and hurried to the ball.

When she entered the ballroom, the guests turned to stare, for she shimmered like a silver moon. The master's son fell instantly in love with her, and would dance with no one else the whole night long.

Just before the clock struck midnight, Cap O' Rushes slipped out of the hall and ran back to the fen. She took off her silver dress and dressed herself again in her dress and hood of rushes.

In the morning, the other maids told her, "Oh, Cap O' Rushes, you should have seen the silver maiden last night. Young master never took his eyes off her!"

Cap O' Rushes said nothing.

When the time came for the next ball, Cap O' Rushes said she was too tired. Again, after the maids were gone, she took off her dress and hood and washed herself in the cool stream. Then she ran to the fen and put on her dress of gold.

When she entered the ballroom, the guests all stared, for she sparkled like the summer sun. As before, the master's son would dance with no other. And as before, at midnight, Cap O' Rushes slipped away to change.

On the night of the third ball, once more Cap O' Rushes told the maids she was too tired to attend. She slipped out of her dress and cleansed herself in the cool stream. Then she put on her dress of many feathers.

The overjoyed master's son danced only with her. Before she fled, he looked at her and said, "Take this ring, for I wish you to be my bride." Cap O' Rushes took the ring, then dashed away.

The next day, the maids told her once more of the beautiful maiden. "Alas," they said, "there will be no other balls this season, and so perhaps we shall never see her again."

Meanwhile, the master's son asked everyone, but could not find the woman he loved. At last he grew ill and could not leave his bed.

One morning, Cap O' Rushes heard the cook talking of the master's son. "He is dying of love for his lady," said the cook. "I will fix him some porridge to ease his pain."

Cap O' Rushes went to the cook. "May I make the porridge?" she asked, and the cook, a lazy woman, agreed. And so Cap O' Rushes cooked the porridge, and slipped her ring into the bottom of the bowl just before the cook took it to the master's son.

The young man ate his porridge, and then he saw the ring. "Who made this porridge?" he asked the cook. "Send me the one who made the porridge."

The frightened cook rushed to the kitchen and fetched Cap O' Rushes. When she entered his room, he looked up at her, filled with wonder. "Did you make this porridge?" he asked.

"I did," she said.

"Where did you get this ring?"

"From he who gave it to me," said Cap O'Rushes. Then she took off her hood, and the master's son gasped, for he recognized the one he loved.

Soon he was well again, and he and Cap O' Rushes planned to wed. Everyone in all the land was invited to the great feast — even Cap O' Rushes' father.

Just before the wedding day, Cap O' Rushes went to the kitchen and told the cook, "You must dress every dish of meat without a bit of salt."

"That'll be terrible," said the cook. But she complied.

The wedding was grand, and afterward, the guests sat down to feast. When Cap O'Rushes' father tasted the saltless meat, he couldn't eat a bit. Soon he burst into tears.

"I understand now," he said, "that my daughter was telling me she loved me best of all. I know she will never forgive me for sending her away."

But Cap O'Rushes only wanted to forgive her father, and she went to him with a kiss. Father and daughter were reunited, and everyone lived happily ever after.