of Spain to pawn her diamond rings!

"Very well," replied the king, "have the sign nailed on this dreadful
tree and we will see what happens."

As soon as Ned arrived at the castle he bowed politely to the king, who
happened to be standing nearby with all his courtiers.

"Ha, ha," laughed the king, as Ned read the sign. "Do you, too, wish to
lose your ears?" At which all the courtiers laughed heartily, the first
time in many months that anybody in that castle had laughed, or even
smiled, for that matter.

"I can but try," answered Ned bravely, and opening his knapsack, took
out his Magic Axe. Standing it up, with the handle leaning against the
enchanted tree, he stepped back a few feet and shouted: "Chop, chop,
chop!"

At once the axe began to chop, now right, now left, and up and down, and
in an incredibly short time that immense tree was cut to bits. It took
only a quarter of an hour, and yet there was such a monstrous heap of
wood that the whole court needed nothing else to burn for a whole year.

But when Ned asked the king for the three bags of gold, that stingy old
monarch said, "Before I give you the reward, you must perform another
task."

"What is it?" asked Ned.

"You must dig me a well so that I may have plenty of water," answered
the king.

THE MAGIC SPRING

Ned mounted the little Donkey and rode away.

[Illustration]

THE MAGIC SPRING

"I CAN but try, your Majesty," said Ned bravely, and again opening his
knapsack, took out his Magic Pickaxe. Laying it carefully on the ground
in the proper position, he shouted:

"Pick, pick, pick!"

At once the pick began to burst the granite to splinters, and in less
than a quarter of an hour had dug a well more than a hundred feet deep
in the solid rock.

"Is the well deep enough, your Majesty?" asked Ned politely.

"Certainly," answered the king, "but where is the water to come from?"
And he winked at his courtiers, who smiled to themselves, for they all
thought Ned would fail, after all, for as yet there wasn't a drop of
water in the well.

But Ned wasn't discouraged. He quietly opened his knapsack again and
took out the nutshell covered with moss, and placed it on a magnificent
fountain vase which, not having any water, had been filled with a
beautiful bouquet of flowers.

"Gush, gush, gush!" he shouted, stepping aside to avoid a wetting.

At once water began to burst out among the flowers, singing with a
gentle murmur, and fal