aid, burn it and I will come to
you instantly with ten thousand chosen dragons.'

The Prince thanked him, and placed the feather in his girdle. The next
morning he took leave of his sister and the Dragon King, and set out in
search of Bashtchelik.

He left the city and crossed a desert, where he endured fatigues and
encountered perils; but still, by his strong right arm, he preserved his
three lives. Then, at last, he came to a city; and, as he took the
mainway of it, the same thing happened as before. It was a woman's voice
calling from a castle tower: 'O Prince! Dismount and come in hither!'

Again he made his way into a courtyard, and again he was met by a
woman--his second sister--who greeted him with joy. Soon she led him
into her boudoir, and immediately he asked: 'My sister, who is your
husband?'

'He is the Eagle King,' said she.

Then, as it had happened with the Dragon King, so it happened with the
Eagle King. He came whirring home from a great height, and, by the
artfulness of his wife, he met and embraced the young Prince; for,
though the Eagle King would have pecked out the livers of the elder
brothers, he was glad to meet the youngest. A feast was spread, and,
afterwards, the talk led on to Bashtchelik.

'Bashtchelik!' cried the Eagle King. 'Young man, will you listen to me?
Once we battered him with ten thousand pairs of wings and assailed him
with ten thousand beaks, but he triumphed. For one man to go up against
him is as a thistledown attacking a whirlwind. Do nought. Stay with me:
I will give you all you desire.'

But, as the Prince held fast to his purpose, the Eagle King plucked a
feather from his wing and gave it him.

'If you are in sore straits,' he said, 'burn this feather, and, on the
instant, I will come to your aid with ten thousand eagles.'

Then the Prince, thanking the Eagle King, set forth once more. And, in
his further journeying, he again came to a city, and heard, beneath a
castle wall, a woman's voice calling to him.

It was his youngest sister. She also contrived to bring him face to face
with her husband, the Falcon King, who warned him strongly against
Bashtchelik, and gave him a feather from his wing in case of need.

After a long search and many adventures, the Prince at last found his
wife, standing at the mouth of a large cave. She was much surprised to
see him, and ran forward to embrace him. He then told her all he had
done since their parting, and she clung to h