bit of driving away from his mansion
every Thursday during hard winters, and not returning till towards
morning. But he had strictly forbidden all his people to accompany him,
or to receive him on his return. He himself harnessed the horse to the
sledge, and unharnessed him when he returned. But no one was permitted
to see the horse and carriage, and he threatened every one with death
who should venture into his secret stable in the evening. During the day
he carried the stable key in his bosom, and at night he hid it under his
pillow.

But the nobleman's coachman heeded not the strict prohibition of his
master, for he was much too anxious to know where his master went every
Thursday, and what the horse and carriage were like. So he contrived one
Thursday to get into the stable, and he hid himself in a dark corner
near the door.

He had not long to wait before his master came and opened the door. All
at once it became as light as if many candles had been kindled in the
great stable. The coachman crouched together in his corner like a
hedgehog, for if his master had seen him, he would certainly have
suffered the threatened punishment.

Then the master pushed the sledge forward, and it shone like a red-hot
anvil.

But while the master went to fetch the horse, the coachman crept under
the sledge.

The nobleman harnessed the horse, and threw cloths over the horse and
the sledge, that the people about the yard should not see the wonderful
radiance.

Then the coachman crept quietly from under the sledge, and hid himself
behind on the runners, where by good luck his master did not notice him.

When all was ready, the nobleman sprang into the sledge, and they went
off so rapidly that the runners of the sledge resounded, always due
north. After some hours, the coachman saw that the cloths were gone from
the horse and sledge, which shone again like fire.

Now, too, he perceived that ladies and gentlemen were driving up from
all directions with similar sledges and horses. That was a rush and
rattle! The drivers rushed past each other as though it was for a very
heavy wager, or as if they were on their wedding journey. At last the
coachman perceived that their course lay above the clouds, which
stretched below them like smooth lakes.

After a time, the racers fell more and more behind, and the coachman's
master said to his nearest companion, "Brother, the other spirits of the
Northern Lights are departing. Let us go too