which had terrified them on the preceding day. At length
they alighted on a vast plain, half of which was rich and fertile,
while the other half was bleak and arid as a desert. The plain was
dotted with horses, and, curiously enough, those on the arid side were
in splendid condition, whereas those on the fertile part were thin and
miserable.

The brothers had not the faintest idea of which direction they ought
to take, and after a vain attempt to mount the horses on the plain
they decided to return home. After many wanderings they arrived at
their native place once more.

When Yvon learned of the ill-success which had attended their mission
he decided to go himself in search of his sister, and though his
brothers laughed at him they gave him an old horse and bade him go.

Eastward and eastward he rode, till at length he reached the forest
where the old woman still tended the fire. Seeing that he was strong
and fearless, she directed him by a difficult and dangerous road,
which, however, he must pursue if he wished to see his sister.

It was indeed a place of terrors. Poisonous serpents lay across his
track; ugly thorns and briers sprang underfoot; at one point a lake
barred his way.

Finally a subterranean passage led him into his sister's country,
where everything was of crystal, shining with the splendour of the sun
itself. At the end of a gleaming pathway rose a castle built entirely
of crystal, its innumerable domes and turrets reflecting the light in
a thousand prismatic hues.

Having gained access to the castle through a cave, Yvon wandered
through its many beautiful chambers, till in one of these he came
upon his sister asleep on a silken couch.

Entranced with her beauty, and not daring to wake her, he slipped
behind a curtain and watched her in silence; but as time went on he
marvelled that she did not wake.

At eventide a handsome youth--Yvon's brother-in-law--entered the
chamber, struck Yvonne sharply three times, then flung himself down by
her side and went to sleep. All night Yvon waited in his place of
concealment. In the morning the young man rose from his couch, gave
his wife three resounding blows, and went away. Only then did Yvon
emerge and wake his sister.

Brother and sister exchanged a tender greeting, and found much to talk
of after their long separation. Yvon learned that the country to which
he had come was a peculiar place, where meat and drink could be
entirely dispensed with, whi