trying to catch it; but he could
never get near it at all. Then the girl came to him, and she said: "You
will never be able to catch it without my help. And I will turn myself
into a mare," she said; "and you can get on my back. But remember," she
said, "not to put the spurs into me whatever may happen." She turned
herself into a mare then, and he got on her back. And the old witch came
out then and she called to Stepney: "Don't spare the spurs."

'They galloped off then after the wild horse, but they never could come
up with it. And at last, in the heat of the race, Stepney forgot what
the girl had said, and he pressed the spurs into the side of the mare
till the blood came down.'

('Oh murder!' and a groan of pity from all the old men.)

'Then the mare fell, and the mare was gone; and it was the girl he saw
before him, and her sides bleeding. And it is then he knew she was the
young girl had been stolen from him at his own place after he shutting
her up in the bull.

'She went then and called to the wild horse, and he came to her; and
they both of them got up on him, and they went back to the witch's
house. And when they got near it, the girl got up and turned herself
into a mare again. And the witch came out to meet them, and she said: "I
see you didn't spare the spur."

'And the witch said Stepney might have the girl if he could choose her
out of thirteen. And he did that. And the witch wanted to keep her from
him yet, but he wouldn't give her up; and he brought her to a house that
was close by; and they made a plan to escape in the night; and they made
the two horses ready to bring them away. And the girl made two cakes;
and she left them with some of the servants, and she said: "The witch
will be coming in to watch us for the night, and she will ask for a
story; and stick a knife into one of the cakes when she asks that," she
said.

'So they made off then by the back door; and the witch came to watch the
house; and she said to the maid: "Tell me a story now while I'm
waiting." So she stuck a knife in one of the cakes, and it began to
tell a story; and the witch sat there listening to it.

'And when it was done, she asked for another story; and the maid stuck a
knife in another of the cakes, and it began to tell a story. And when
that was done, the witch asked for another story, and the maid stuck a
knife in the third cake, and it is what it said: "The two you think you
are watching are off, and are on the