his
crooked bill by the nape, till red fiery blood burst down over his
neck; and Serpentina's voice cried: "Saved! Saved!" Then the crone,
foaming with rage and desperation, darted out upon the Archivarius;
she threw the Golden Pot behind her, and holding up the long talons of
her skinny fists, was for clutching the Archivarius by the throat; but
he instantly doffed his nightgown, and hurled it against her. Then,
hissing, and sputtering, and bursting, shot blue flames from the
parchment leaves, and the crone rolled round in howling agony, and
strove to get fresh earth from the Pot, fresh parchment leaves from
the books, that she might stifle the blazing flames; and whenever any
earth or leaves came down on her the flames went out. But now, as
if coming from the interior of the Archivarius, there issued fiery
crackling beams, and darted on the crone.

"Hey, hey! To it again! Salamander! Victory!" clanged the Archivarius'
voice through the chamber; and a hundred bolts whirled forth in fiery
circles round the shrieking crone. Whizzing and buzzing flew Cat
and Parrot in their furious battle; but at last the Parrot, with
his strong wing, dashed the Cat to the ground; and with his talons
transfixing and holding fast his adversary, which, in deadly agony,
uttered horrid mews and howls, he, with his sharp bill, picked out
his glowing eyes, and the burning froth spouted from them. Then thick
vapor streamed up from the spot where the crone, hurled to the ground,
was lying under the nightgown; her howling, her terrific, piercing cry
of lamentation died away in the remote distance. The smoke, which had
spread abroad with irresistible smell, cleared off; the Archivarius
picked up his nightgown, and under it lay an ugly Parsnip.

"Honored Herr Archivarius, here, let me offer you the vanquished foe,"
said the Parrot, holding out a black hair in his beak to Archivarius
Lindhorst.

"Very well, my worthy friend," replied the Archivarius; "here lies
my vanquished foe too; be so good now as to manage what remains. This
very day, as a small douceur, you shall have six cocoanuts, and a new
pair of spectacles also, for I see the Cat has villainously broken
your glasses.

"Yours forever, most honored friend and patron!" answered the Parrot,
much delighted; then took the Parsnip in his bill, and fluttered out
with it by the window which Archivarius Lindhorst had opened for him.

The Archivarius now lifted the Golden Pot, and cried, with a