mouth." The eagle closed his eyes and Feet-in-the-Ashes put
another score of skates into his mouth. The eagle gulped them
all down. "Whenever I open my mouth you will have to feed
me," he said. Feet-in-the-Ashes did not like to hear this,
for a score more of skates were all that was left.

The eagle rose up again and on and on he flew until the night
was coming over the water. He opened his mouth again.
Feet-in-the-Ashes put in five more skates. The eagle kept his
mouth open and said "Feed me."

There was nothing to be done then but to put in the rest of
the skates. Feet-in-the-Ashes flung them all in, and the
eagle rose up and flew and they travelled while there was
darkness on the water, and when the sun rose again
Feet-in-the-Ashes saw they were flying over the land of
Ireland. The eagle opened his mouth. Feet-in-the-Ashes had
nothing to put into it. "Fly on, good eagle," said he, "and
leave me down at the King's Castle." "Feed me," said the
eagle. "I will give you what you never had before--a whole
bullock--when we come to the King's Castle." "Cows far off
have long horns," said the eagle mocking him. With that he
flung Feet-in-the-Ashes off his back.

Sore would his fall have been if it had been on any other
place but a soft bog. On the softest of soft bogs he fell. He
made a hole in the ground, but no bone in his body was broken
and he still held the cup in his hands. He rose up covered
with the mud of the bog, and he started off for the King's
Castle.

"Cluck, cluck," said the Hen-grouse, "and did he not go to see his
grandmother at all?"

[Illustration]

"If he did it's not in the story," said the Cock-grouse. "That very
day, as I would have you know, the King was standing outside the gate
of his Castle with his powerful captains and his strong-armed guards
around him. 'A year it is to-day,' said the King, 'since the Giant
came and struck me in the mouth, knocking out and taking away three of
my teeth, and since that day I have had neither health nor prosperity.
And you know,' said he, 'that my daughter and a quarter of my Kingdom
is to go to the one who will avenge the insult and bring back my
three teeth.' 'Such and such a thing prevented me from going,' said
one of his Captains, 'but now that so and so is done, I can go and
avenge the insult offered to you.' 'So and so kept me from going,'
said