ck, so that he did not slip,
notwithstanding the darkness. Slyboots went on for some distance, till
he came to a door. He looked through a crack, and saw three young
girls[122] sitting with the old man, whose head was resting on the lap
of one of them. The girl was saying, "If I only rub the bruise a few
times more with the bell,[123] the pain and swelling will disappear."
Slyboots thought, "That is certainly the place where I struck the old
man with the back of the axe three weeks ago." He decided to wait behind
the door till the master of the house had lain down to sleep and the
fire was extinguished. Presently the old man said, "Help me into my
room, that I may go to bed, for my body is quite out of joint, and I
can't move hand or foot." Then they brought him to his room. When it
grew dark, and the girls had left the room, Slyboots crept gently in,
and hid himself behind the beer-barrel.[124]

Presently the girls came back, and spoke gently, so as not to rouse the
old man. "The bruise on the head is of no consequence," said one, "and
the sprained body will also soon be cured, but the loss of the ring of
strength is irreparable, and this troubles the old man more than his
bodily sufferings." Soon afterwards they heard the old man snoring, and
Slyboots came out of his hiding-place and made friends with the maidens.
At first they were rather frightened, but the clever youth soon
contrived to dispel their alarm, and they allowed him to stay there for
the night. The maidens told him that the old man possessed two great
treasures, a magic sword and a rod of rowan-wood, and he resolved to
possess himself of both. The rod would form a bridge over the sea for
its possessor, and he who bore the sword could destroy the most numerous
army.[125] On the following evening Slyboots contrived to seize upon
the wand and the sword, and escaped before daybreak with the help of the
youngest girl. But the passage had disappeared from before the door, and
in its place he found a large enclosure, beyond which was a broad sea.

As soon as Slyboots was gone the girls began to quarrel, and their loud
talking woke up the old man. He learned from what they said that a
stranger had been there, and he rose up in a passion, and found the wand
and sword gone. "My best treasures are stolen!" he roared, and,
forgetting his bruises, he rushed out. Slyboots was still sitting on the
beach, thinking whether he should try the power of the wand, or seek for