foot.

When he arrived at the foot of the tower, he drove a nail into the
wall. Then he tied one end of his rope to this spike. In this way he
succeeded in making a complete ladder of nails and rope to the top of
the tower. He looked for Clotilde, who met him with her eyes flooded
with tears. As a reward for his great services to her, she gave him
one of the magic necklaces. While they were whispering words of love
in each other's ears, they heard a deafening noise at the bottom of
the tower. "Rush for safety to your ladder!" cried Clotilde. "One of
the fiendish friends of the magician is going to kill you."

But, alas! some wanton hand had pulled out the nails; and this
person was none other then Juan's second brother. "I am a lost man,"
said Juan.

"Mount one of the winged horses in the chamber adjoining mine," said
Clotilde. So Juan got on one of the animals without knowing where to
go. The horse flew from the tower with such velocity, that Juan had
to close his eyes. His breath was almost taken away. In a few seconds,
however, he was landed in a country entirely strange to his eyes.

After long years of struggle with poverty and starvation, Juan was
at last able to make his way back to his native country. He went
to live in a town just outside the walls of the capital. A rich old
man named Telesforo hired him to work on his farm. Juan's excellent
service and irreproachable conduct won the good will of his master,
who adopted him as his son. At about this time King Ludovico gave
out proclamations stating that any one who could exactly match his
daughter's necklace should be his son-in-law. Thousands tried, but
they tried in vain. Even the most dextrous and experienced smiths were
baffled in their attempts to produce an exact counterfeit. When word of
the royal proclamations was brought to Juan, he decided to try. One day
he pretended to be sick, and he asked Telesforo to go to the palace to
get Clotilde's necklace. The old man, who was all ready to serve his
adopted son, went that very afternoon and borrowed the necklace, so
that he might try to copy it. When he returned with the magic article,
Juan jumped from his bed and kissed his father. After supper Juan went
to his room and locked himself in. Then he took from his pocket the
necklace which Clotilde had given him in the tower, and compared it
carefully with the borrowed one. When he saw that they did not differ
in any respect, he took a piece of iron and ham