in, and wondering if she
should stay there till she died, as no one would know where to look
for her. How long it was since she had set out in the morning she
could not tell--it seemed years to her, of course; but the sun was
still high in the heavens when she heard the sound of wheels, and
then, with a great effort, for her throat was parched with fright and
pain, she gave a shout.

'I am coming!' was the answer; and in another moment a cart made its
way through the trees, driven by Kisa, who used her tail as a whip to
urge the horse to go faster. Directly Kisa saw Ingibjoerg lying there,
she jumped quickly down, and lifting the girl carefully in her two
front paws, laid her upon some soft hay, and drove back to her own
little hut.

In the corner of the room was a pile of cushions, and these Kisa
arranged as a bed. Ingibjoerg, who by this time was nearly fainting
from all she had gone through, drank greedily some milk, and then sank
back on the cushions while Kisa fetched some dried herbs from a
cupboard, soaked them in warm water and tied them on the bleeding
legs. The pain vanished at once, and Ingibjoerg looked up and smiled at
Kisa.

'You will go to sleep now,' said the cat, 'and you will not mind if I
leave you for a little while. I will lock the door, and no one can
hurt you.' But before she had finished the princess was asleep. Then
Kisa got into the cart, which was standing at the door, and catching
up the reins, drove straight to the giant's cave.

Leaving her cart behind some trees, Kisa crept gently up to the open
door, and, crouching down, listened to what the giant was telling his
wife, who was at supper with him.

'The first day that I can spare I shall just go back and kill her,' he
said; 'it would never do for people in the forest to know that a mere
girl can defy me!' And he and his wife were so busy calling Ingibjoerg
all sorts of names for her bad behaviour, that they never noticed Kisa
stealing into a dark corner, and upsetting a whole bag of salt into
the great pot before the fire.

'Dear me, how thirsty I am!' cried the giant by-and-by.

'So am I,' answered his wife. 'I do wish I had not taken that last
spoonful of broth; I am sure something was wrong with it.'

'If I don't get some water I shall die,' went on the giant. And
rushing out of the cave, followed by his wife, he ran down the path
which led to the river.

Then Kisa entered the hut, and lost no time in searching every hole
t