man, whose beard was fire; this was the Flame-king Holofernes, but Argilius did not know who he was. The old man had three iron hoops round his body, which bound him fast to the wall.

"Hail to thee, young man," said he; "see, my beard is flame; I am very hot, give me a goblet of wine." Now, as Argilius was very kindly disposed, he gave him a goblet; and as soon as he had drunk it, one of the hoops round his body gave way. He chuckled and said: "Thou hast greatly relieved me; give me now another goblet." Argilius did so, and when the Flame-king had emptied that, another hoop gave way. He chuckled again and said: "Twice hast thou given me wine, now give me a goblet of water." And when Argilius had done as he was requested, the third hoop sprang off, and the Flame-king disappeared.

Kavadiska had not performed half of her journey before Holofernes stood by her side. He addressed her, and his beard waved in anger: "Thou hast rejected me for thy husband, thou hast slain three of my armies, thou hast detained me in prison: now thou art in my power; and now not my wife, but the lowest of my servants shalt thou be." Since her marriage with Argilius, Kavadiska had lost all her power, therefore her resistance was in vain. In three leaps the Flame-king had already borne her to his realm.

Seven times seven days passed, and Kavadiska did not return. Then Argilius became very uneasy, and he resolved to go and see his three brothers-in-law, and inquire if they could give him any information where Kavadiska was. He arrived first at the Sun-king's palace, who was just then coming home.

"Welcome, little brother-in-law," began he.

"Ah! dear brother-in-law," said Argilius, "I am in search of my wife Kavadiska; know'st thou not where she is? Hast thou not seen her?"

"No," rejoined the Sun-king, "I have not seen her. Perhaps she is only visible by night, and in that case thou must inquire of our brother-in-law the Moon-king."

They then took refreshments together, and sat till night came on, when Argilius went on to the Moon-king. He reached his palace just as the Moon-king was about to begin his night wandering, and Argilius having told what he wanted, the Moon-king replied:—

"I have not seen her; but come, join me in my nightly pilgrimage, perhaps we shall discover her." They wandered all night, but did not get sight of her. Then said the Moon-king:—

"It is now time for me to go home; but yonder comes our brother-in-law the Wind-king; speak to him; he drives about everywhere, perhaps he may have seen her."

The Wind-king stood beside them, and when he heard his little brother-in-law's business, he said:—

"Assuredly I know where she is. The Flame-king, Holofernes, has got her imprisoned in a subterranean cavern, and she is obliged to wash all his kitchen utensils in the fiery stream, and as this makes her very hot, I often waft a cooling breeze upon her."

"I thank thee, dear brother-in-law, for having given her some relief; pray carry me to her," said Argilius.

"Right willingly," rejoined the Wind-king: so he gave a great puff, and he and Argilius, together with the horse of the latter, stood the next moment in the presence of his Kavadiska. Her joy was so great that she let all the kitchen utensils fall into the fiery stream; but Argilius, without stopping to talk much, lifted her on his horse and rode off.

The Flame-king was at that time in his own apartment; he heard an extraordinary noise in the stable, and on going into it he found his horse Taigarot prancing, neighing, biting the manger, and pawing the ground. Taigarot was a very peculiar kind of horse; he understood human language, and could even speak, and he had nine feet!

"What mad tricks are you playing?" cried Holofernes; "have you not had enough hay and oats, or have they not given you drink?"

"Oats and hay I have had in plenty," said Taigarot, "and drink, too; but they have carried off Kavadiska from you."

The Flame-king shivered with rage.

"Be calm," said Taigarot; "you may even eat, drink, and sleep, for in three bounds I will overtake her."

Holofernes did as his horse bade him, and when he had sufficiently rested and refreshed himself, he mounted Taigarot, and in three bounds overtook Argilius. He tore Kavadiska from his arms and cried out, as he was springing home again:—

"Because you set me at liberty, I do not kill thee this time; but if thou returnest once again, thou art lost."

Argilius went back very melancholy to his three brothers-in-law, and related what had happened. They took counsel together, and then said:—

"Thou must find a horse which is still swifter of foot than Taigarot; there is, however, but one such horse existing, and he is Taigarot's younger brother. It is true he has only four feet, but still he is decidedly swifter than Taigarot."

"Where shall I find this horse?" inquired Argilius.

The brothers-in-law replied:—

"The witch Iron-nose keeps the horse concealed under-ground; go to her, enter into her service, and demand the horse in lieu of other wages."

"Carry me thither, dear brothers-in-law," said Argilius.

"Immediately," said the Sun-king; "but first accept this gift from thy brothers-in-law, who love thee dearly."

With these words he gave him a little staff, which was half gold and half silver, and which never ceased vibrating. It was made of sunshine, moonshine, and wind.

"Whenever thou standest in need of us, stick this staff in the ground, and immediately we shall be by thy side."

Then the Sun-king took his little brother-in-law on one of his beams, and carried him for one day; then the Moon-king did the same for a whole night, and finally the Wind-king carried him for a whole day and a whole night too, and by that time he reached the palace of the witch Iron-nose.

The palace of the witch was constructed entirely of deaths'-heads; one only was wanting to complete the building. When the old woman heard a knocking at her gate, she looked out of the window, and rejoiced: "At last another!" exclaimed she, "I have waited three hundred years in vain for this death's-head to complete my magnificent edifice: come in, my good youth!"

Argilius entered, and was a little startled when he first beheld the old woman, for she was very tall, very ugly, and her nose was of iron.

"I should like to enter your service," were his words.

"Well," replied she, "what wages do you ask?"

"The horse which you keep under-ground."

"You shall have him if you serve faithfully; if you fail however once only, you shall be put to death."

"Very well."

"With me,"—these were witch Iron-nose's last words,—"with me the year's service consists of only three days; you may begin your service at once. You will attend to my stud in the meadow, and if in the evening a single one is missing, you die."

She then led him to the stable. The horses were all of metal, neighed terribly, and made the most surprising leaps.

"Attend to your business," said Iron-nose, and then locked herself in her apartment. Argilius opened the covered enclosure, threw himself on one of the metal horses and rushed out with the whole troop. They were no sooner on the meadow, when the horse on which he rode threw him into a deep morass, where he sank up to the breast. The whole troop scattered themselves here and there, when Argilius stuck the little staff his brothers-in-law had given him into the ground, and at once the sun's rays struck with such heat on the morass, that it dried up instantly, and the metal horses began to melt, and ran terrified