lamenting, and the boat was gone.

"What is this?" asked the King. "What have you done with my boat, and
why are you standing here?"

"Look! Look!" cried the boatman and he pointed out to sea.

The King looked, and then first he saw Ashipattle in the boat, sailing
away toward the monster,--for before his eyes had been dim with
sorrow, and he had seen naught but what was close before him.

The King looked, and all the court looked with him, and a great cry
arose, for they guessed that Ashipattle was sailing out to do battle
with the Stoorworm.

As they stood staring the sun shone red and the monster awoke. Slowly,
slowly his great jaws opened in a yawn, and as he yawned the water
rushed into his mouth like a great flood and on down his throat.
Ashipattle's boat was caught in the swirl and swept forward faster
than any sail could carry it. Then slowly the monster closed his mouth
and all was still save for the foaming and surging of the waters.

Ashipattle steered his boat close in against the monster's jaws, and
it lay there, rocking in the tide, while he waited for the Stoorworm
to yawn again.

Presently slowly, slowly, the great jaws gaped, and the flood rushed
in, foaming. Ashipattle's boat was swept in with the water, and it
almost crushed against one of the monster's teeth, but Ashipattle
fended it off, and it was carried on the flood down into the
Stoorworm's throat.

Down and down went the boat with Ashipattle in it and the sound of
surging waters filled his ears. It was light there in the monster's
throat, for the roof and the sides of it shone with phosphorescence so
that he could see everything.

As he swept on, the roof above him grew lower and lower, and the water
grew shallower and shallower; for it drained off into passages that
opened off from the throat into the rest of the body.

At last the roof grew so low that the mast of the boat wedged against
it. Then Ashipattle stepped over the side of the boat into the water,
and it had grown so shallow it was scarce as high as his knees. He
took the pot of peat, that was still hot, and the knife, and went a
little further until he came to where the beast's heart was. He could
see it beat, beat, beating.

Ashipattle took his knife and dug a hole in the heart, and emptied the
hot peat into it. Then he blew and blew on the peat. He blew until his
cheeks almost cracked with blowing, and it seemed as though the peat
would never burn. But at last it fla