by his side when he went to rest, and always it was
the first thing for which his hand was outstretched when he awoke.
Judge then of his horror and dismay when, on opening his eyes one
morning, the hammer was nowhere to be seen.

Starting up with a roar of rage, Thor commenced to search everywhere
for the missing weapon. Up and down his wonderful palace, built of the
thunder clouds, he tramped, with a noise that shook the whole city of
Asgard. But the hammer was not to be found.

Then he called upon golden-haired Sif, his wife, and bade her help in
the search; and still the hammer was nowhere to be seen. It was clear
that someone must have stolen it, and, when he realised this, Thor's
wrath broke all bounds. His bristling red hair and beard stood up on
end, and from them flew a whole volley of fiery sparks.

Presently, as the angry Asa was shaking the palace with his thunderous
voice, Red Loki came along to inquire into the trouble. He was not
likely to sympathise with Thor, but, always brimful of curiosity, he
loved to have a part in everything that happened.

"What's the matter, Asa Thor?" said he; and Thor replied, lowering his
voice as he spoke, for he did not want his loss to be too widely
known:

"Now listen to what I tell thee, Loki--'tis a thing which is known
neither on earth below nor in heaven above. My hammer's gone."

This news was most interesting to Loki, who had long owed Thor a
grudge, which he was afraid to pay openly. "Ho, ho!" said he. "Then
shall we soon have the giants turning us out of Asgard, brother Thor."

"Not if you use your wits as you know how," growled Thor, still in a
very bad temper. "Come, you call yourself a clever fellow. Find out
for me who has robbed me of my thunderbolt, my hammer, my Mioelnir."

Then Loki gave a grin and a wink, and promised to do what he
could--not because he cared for Thor, but because he loved to be of
importance, and was, moreover, really frightened as to what might
happen to Asgard if the magic hammer was not at hand.

It was not long before he noticed that an extraordinary kind of
tempest was raging in the regions below--not an orderly kind of
tempest, with first some thunder, and then some rain, and then a gust
of wind or two, such as Thor was wont to arrange, but a mixture of
hail and wind and thunder and lightning and rain and snow, all raging
together in a tremendous muddle, so that the earth folk thought the
end of the world was come.

This