sight and sound of her husband, the woman stopped crying. Her grief
changed to surprise, then to fury.

"You wretch!" she cried. "You lazy, good-for-nothing loafer! A nice
kind of shepherd you are to desert your sheep and yourself to idle
away the winter sleeping like a serpent! That's a fine story, isn't
it, and I suppose you think me fool enough to believe it! Oh,
you--you sheep's tick, where have you been and what have you been
doing?"

She flew at Batcha with both hands and there's no telling what she would
have done to him if the stranger hadn't interfered.

"There, there," he said, "no use getting excited! Of course he hasn't
been sleeping here in the sheepfold all winter. The question is, where
has he been? Here is some money for you. Take it and go along home to
your cottage in the valley. Leave Batcha to me and I promise you I'll
get the truth out of him."

The woman abused her husband some more and then, pocketing the money,
went off.

As soon as she was gone, the stranger changed into a horrible looking
creature with a third eye in the middle of his forehead.

"Good heavens!" Batcha gasped in fright. "He's the wizard of the
mountain! Now what's going to happen to me!"

Batcha had often heard terrifying stories of the wizard, how he could
himself take any form he wished and how he could turn a man into a ram.

"Aha!" the wizard laughed. "I see you know me! Now then, no more lies!
Tell me: where have you been all winter long?"

At first Batcha remembered his triple oath to the old king serpent and
he feared to break it. But when the wizard thundered out the same
question a second time and a third time, and grew bigger and more
horrible looking each time he spoke, Batcha forgot his oath and
confessed everything.

"Now come with me," the wizard said. "Show me the cliff. Show me the
magic plant."

What could Batcha do but obey? He led the wizard to the cliff and
picked a leaf of the magic plant.

"Open the rock," the wizard commanded.

Batcha laid the leaf against the cliff and instantly the rock opened.

"Go inside!" the wizard ordered.

But Batcha's trembling legs refused to move.

The wizard took out a book and began mumbling an incantation. Suddenly
the earth trembled, the sky thundered, and with a great hissing
whistling sound a monster dragon flew out of the cavern. It was the old
king serpent whose seven years were up and who was now become a flying
dragon. From his huge mouth he breat