his threats. He and his father were soon
on the upper earth again, and they set out for home, one foot before
the other.

On the way the father told the lad how badly it had gone with him and
the mother in the past years; of how poor they were, and of how their
hut was tumbling to pieces, and how their cow had died.

"Never mind," said the lad. "I learned quite a bit of magic from the
Green One, and that should help us out now. Do you hear the huntsmen
winding their horns farther on in the open?"

Yes, the father heard them.

"I will turn myself into a greyhound," said the lad. "The hunt is
coming this way, and when the huntsmen see me they will want to buy
me. Ask them three hundred dollars for me; no more, no less, but when
they take me do not leave the leash on me, whatever you do. Take it
off and put it in your pocket, and then all will be well with me. Fail
to do this, and misfortune will surely overtake me."

The father promised to do as the son said, and then the lad turned
himself into a greyhound, and he was so sleek and handsome that the
man could not admire him enough; but about his neck was an old, worn
leash that did not look as though it were worth a penny. It seemed a
pity to leave it on the neck of such a handsome dog.

The man went on a little further and then he came to where a grand
nobleman and his friends were hunting a hare. They had a pack of dogs
with them but the hare had outrun them.

When the nobleman saw the man and the greyhound he stopped his horse.

"That is a fine greyhound you have there."

"Yes, it is," answered the man.

"Do you think it could course down the hare we are chasing?"

Yes, the man was sure it could.

"Then let me have it and I will pay you a good price for it."

Very well, he could have it for three hundred dollars, but that was
without the leash; the leash was not for sale.

The nobleman laughed aloud, "when the dog is mine," he said, "he shall
have a golden leash, for that one you have is fit for nothing but the
ash heap."

The nobleman then paid the man three hundred dollars and unfastened
the leash from the dog's neck.

Away he flew like the wind and soon caught the hare. But when the
hunters reached the spot where the hare lay they could see nothing of
the dog. Only a tall and handsome youth stood there, and he was
flushed and hot as though he had been running.

"Have you seen my greyhound, a sleek and handsome dog?" asked the
nobleman.

No,