ce Alberto now began
his search. He walked and walked until he came to a large forest
where he found two boys fighting. "What are you fighting about?" he
said. The one answered that the other boy was taking his boot away
from him. Alberto then said to the other boy, "Why don't you give
the boy his boot? The boot is old." The boy said that the boot, if
worn by any one, would carry him to whatever place he wanted to go,
provided he kicked the ground. To settle the contest between the
two, Prince Alberto took the boot from them, and said, "Go over by
that large tree, and the one who can run here first shall have the
boot." While the boys were walking towards the tree, the prince put on
the boot and kicked the ground. He was at once carried far away. When
the boys got back to the original place, Alberto had disappeared.

At the place where the boot carried him Alberto found two young men
fighting over a rusty key. He said to them, "Why do you fight for
such an old rusty key? You are not children: you are young men. You
ought to be ashamed of yourselves." The elder of them answered that
the key, if it were knocked against a stone, would open the stone,
however hard it might be. The prince took the key from them, and said,
"Go to a certain place, and face back here. The one to reach here first
shall have the key." The two agreed, and started away. While they were
gone, Alberto kicked the ground, and the boot carried him to another
place. When the young men came back, the prince was no longer there.

This time Prince Alberto found two old men fighting. He asked them the
same question as he had asked the others; and one of them answered,
"If that hat is worn by any one, his body will be invisible; he will
not be seen." The prince secured the hat from these old men by telling
them the same thing he had told the others. While they were running
their race, he put the hat on and kicked the ground.

The boot now brought him before a huge rock which had a small hole in
it. Alberto put the key in the hole, and the rock suddenly opened. When
he entered it, he found a street leading to a palace. He went up to
the palace; and when he entered the door, a beautiful princess met
him. Before Alberto could say a word, the princess told him to go away;
for she said that a seven-headed monster was living with her. "If
that is the case," said the prince, "show me his sword, and I will
kill him." The princess pointed to the sword, which was han