and eyes that were
already closed. They wept, and they cried to him, but no answer came.

Suddenly a shriek broke from those who stood hindmost, and in strode
the witch, with serpents round her neck and arms and hair. At a sign
from her they flung themselves with a hiss upon the maidens, whose
flesh was pierced with their poisonous fangs. Then turning to
Zoulvisia, she said:

'I give you your choice--will you come with me, or shall the serpents
slay you also?' And as the terrified girl stared at her, unable to
utter one word, she seized her by the arm and led her to the place
where the raft was hidden among the rushes. When they were both on
board she took the oars, and they floated down the stream till they
had reached the neighbouring country, where Zoulvisia was sold for a
sack of gold to the king.

Now, since the young man had entered the three huts on his way
through the forest, not a morning had passed without the sons of the
three fairies examining the scissors, the razor and the mirror, which
the young king had left them. Hitherto the surfaces of all three
things had been bright and undimmed, but on this particular morning,
when they took them out as usual, drops of blood stood on the razor
and the scissors, while the little mirror was clouded over.

'Something terrible must have happened to our little brother,' they
whispered to each other, with awestruck faces; 'we must hasten to his
rescue ere it be too late.' And putting on their magic slippers they
started for the palace.

The servants greeted them eagerly, ready to pour forth all they knew,
but that was not much; only that the sabre had vanished, none knew
where. The new-comers passed the whole of the day in searching for it,
but it could not be found, and when night closed in, they were very
tired and hungry. But how were they to get food? The king had not
hunted that day, and there was nothing for them to eat. The little men
were in despair, when a ray of the moon suddenly lit up the river
beneath the walls.

'How stupid! Of course there are fish to catch,' cried they; and
running down to the bank they soon succeeded in landing some fine
fish, which they cooked on the spot. Then they felt better, and began
to look about them.

Further out, in the middle of the stream, there was a strange
splashing, and by-and-by the body of a huge fish appeared, turning and
twisting as if in pain. The eyes of all the brothers were fixed on the
spot, when the f