omy wood. In the middle of the wood he came upon a meadow,
where a fire was burning, and in the midst of the fire, surrounded by
flames, was a lovely damsel, more beautiful than anything that Martin
had ever seen, and when she saw him she called to him:

'Martin, if you would win happiness, save my life. Extinguish the
flames with the sand that you earned in payment of your faithful
service.'

'Truly,' thought Martin to himself, 'it would be more sensible to save
a fellow-being's life with this sand than to drag it about on one's
back, seeing what a weight it is.' And forthwith he lowered the sack
from his shoulders and emptied its contents on the flames, and
instantly the fire was extinguished; but at the same moment lo! and
behold the lovely damsel turned into a Serpent, and, darting upon him,
coiled itself round his neck, and whispered lovingly in his ear:

'Do not be afraid of me, Martin; I love you, and will go with you
through the world. But first you must follow me boldly into my
Father's Kingdom, underneath the earth; and when we get there,
remember this--he will offer you gold and silver, and dazzling gems,
but do not touch them. Ask him, instead, for the ring which he wears
on his little finger, for in that ring lies a magic power; you have
only to throw it from one hand to the other, and at once twelve young
men will appear, who will do your bidding, no matter how difficult, in
a single night.'

So they started on their way, and after much wandering they reached a
spot where a great rock rose straight up in the middle of the road.
Instantly the Serpent uncoiled itself from his neck, and, as it
touched the damp earth, it resumed the shape of the lovely damsel.
Pointing to the rock, she showed him an opening just big enough for a
man to wriggle through. Passing into it, they entered a long
underground passage, which led out on to a wide field, above which
spread a blue sky. In the middle of the field stood a magnificent
castle, built out of porphyry, with a roof of gold and with glittering
battlements. And his beautiful guide told him that this was the palace
in which her father lived and reigned over his kingdom in the
Under-world.

[Illustration: Martin Extinguishes the Flames]

Together they entered the palace, and were received by the King with
great kindness. Turning to his daughter, he said:

'My child, I had almost given up the hope of ever seeing you again.
Where have you been all these years?'