ould be kept very secret from
the other two parties, and desired Storbiorn his Chamberlain, to take
the key of iron and the key of gold and deliver them to the leaders of
the divisions he had left behind, with orders to try their fortune in
different parts of the mountain.

"Give the keys to me, my lord King," answered Storbiorn, "and I shall
know what to do with them. These magicians may do their worst, my
heart will not beat one whit the faster; and I shall see all that
happens."

So he went and gave his message to the two divisions, and one stayed
behind while Storbiorn went to the mountain with the other.

When they arrived, the man who held the key laid it against the rock,
which burst asunder, and half the men entered at Storbiorn's command.

Suddenly an icy blue stream poured upon them from the depths of the
cavern, and drowned most of them before they had time to fly. Only
those behind escaped, and Storbiorn bade them go instantly to the King
and tell him what had happened.

Then he went to the third troop and marched with them to the rock,
where he gave the golden key to one of the men, and ordered him to try
it.

The rock flew open at once, and Storbiorn told the men to enter, taking
care, however, to keep behind himself. They obeyed and found
themselves in a lovely golden cave, whose walls were lit up by
thousands of precious stones of every hue.

There was neither sight nor sound to frighten them, and even Storbiorn,
when he saw the gold, forgot his prudence and his fears, and followed
them in.

In a moment a red fire burst out with a terrific noise, and clouds of
smoke poured over them, so that they fell down choked into the flames.
Only one man escaped, and he ran back as fast as he could to the King
to tell him of the fate of his army.

PART X.

All this time Wayland was working quietly in his island prison, waiting
for the day of his revenge. The suit of golden armour which the King
had commanded kept him busy day and night, and, besides the wonderful
shield with figures of the gods, he had wrought a coat of mail, a
helmet, and armour for the thighs, such as never had been seen before.

The King had invited all his great nobles to meet him at the Palace,
when he returned from the mountain, so that they might see his
wonderful armour and all the precious things he should bring with him
from the caverns.

When Nidud reached his Palace the Queen and Banvilda, their daughter,
came fort