y Mischief-maker
plots our hurt. He must be driven from his hiding-place, and put where
he can do no further harm."

Great stir was there then in Asgard. Every one hastened to answer Odin's
call, and to join in the quest for the Mischief-maker. Thor came on
foot, with his hammer tightly grasped in his hands, and lightning
flashing from beneath his red brows. Tyr, the one-handed, came with
his sword. Then followed Bragi the Wise, with his harp and his sage
counsels; then Hermod the Nimble, with his quick wit and ready hands;
and, lastly, a great company of elves and wood-sprites and trolls.
Then a whirlwind caught them up in its swirling arms, and carried
them through the air, over the hill-tops and the country-side, and
the meadows and the mountains, and set them down in the gorge of the
Fanander Force.

But Loki was not caught napping. His wakeful ears had heard the tumult
in the air, and he guessed who it was that was coming. He threw the net,
which he had just finished, into the fire, and jumped quickly into the
swift torrent, where, changing himself into a salmon, he lay hidden
beneath the foaming waters.

When the eager Asa-folk reached Loki's dwelling, they found that he whom
they sought had fled; and although they searched high and low, among the
rocks and the caves and the snowy crags, they could see no signs of the
cunning fugitive. Then they went back to his house again to consult what
next to do. And, while standing by the hearth, Kwaser, a sharp-sighted
elf, whose eyes were quicker than the sunbeam, saw the white ashes of
the burned net lying undisturbed in the still hot embers, the woven
meshes unbroken and whole.

"See what the cunning fellow has been making!" cried the elf. "It must
have been a trap for catching fish."

"Or rather for catching men," said Bragi; "for it is strangely like the
Sea-queen's net."

"In that case," said Hermod the Nimble, "he has made a trap for himself;
for, no doubt, he has changed himself, as is his wont, to a slippery
salmon, and lies at this moment hidden beneath the Fanander torrent.
Here are plenty of cords of flax and hemp and wool, with which he
intended to make other nets. Let us take them, and weave one like the
pattern which lies there in the embers; and then, if I mistake not, we
shall catch the too cunning fellow."

All saw the wisdom of these words, and all set quickly to work. In
a short time they had made a net strong and large, and full of fine
meshes