any of men who were hard at work on a pile of dead animals. The sun
had set, and in the corner of the great hall where the flaying was going
on, there was very little light, but Alexandrine marked that close to an
open door was a heap of bearskins, and she took up her position as near
them as she could. But the girl was careful not to stand too long in one
place; she moved about from one group of men to another, lending a hand
here and there and passing a merry jest, and as she did so she gave the
topmost skins a little shove with her foot, getting them each time
closer to the open door, and always watching her chance to pick them up
and run off with them.

It came at last. The torch which lighted that end of the hall flared up
and went out, leaving the men in darkness. One of them rose to fetch
another, and, quick as thought, Alexandrine caught up the bearskins and
was outside in the garden. From that it was easy to make her way
upstairs unseen.

'See how I have sped!' she said, throwing the skins on the floor. 'But
night is coming on apace, and we have no time to lose; I must sew you up
in them at once.'

The skins were both so large that Melior and William wore all their own
clothes beneath, and did not feel at all hot, as they expected to do.

'Am I not a bold beast?' asked Melior in glee, as she caught sight of
herself in a polished shield on the wall. 'Methinks no handsomer bear
was ever seen!'

[Illustration: THE BEARSKINS: AM NOT I A BOLD BEAST?]

'Yes, verily, madam,' answered her maiden, 'you are indeed a grisly
ghost, and no man will dare to come near you. But now stand aside, for
it is William's turn.'

'How do you like me, sweetheart?' asked he, when the last stitches had
been put in.

'You have so fierce an air, and are so hideous a sight, that I fear to
look on you!' said she. And William laughed and begged Alexandrine to
guide them through the garden, as they were not yet used to going on all
fours, and might stumble.

As they passed through the bushes, galloping madly--for in spite of the
danger they felt as though they were children again--a Greek who was
walking up to the palace saw them afar, and, seized with dread, took
shelter in the nearest hut, where he told his tale. The men who heard it
paid but little heed at the time, though they remembered it after; but
bears were common in that country, and often came out of the forest at
night.

Not knowing what a narrow escape they had had, t