may see that it is not difficult." Saying which, he
took hold of one of the trees by the middle, and snapped it off as one
might pluck a flower.

"Thus to thee, but how to me?" said the soldier; and when the giant
departed he set to work. But although he was so strong, and worked
willingly, the trees seemed almost as hard as stone, and he made
little progress. When he returned at night the giant asked him how he
got on.

"The trees are very hard," said he.

"So they always say," replied the giant; "I have always had idle
servants."

"I will not be called idle a second time," thought the soldier, and
next day he went early and worked his utmost. But the result was very
small. And when he came home, looking weary and disappointed, he could
not fail to perceive that this gave great satisfaction to the giant.

Matters had gone on thus for some time, when one morning, as he went
to work, he found the little old woman gathering sticks as before.

"Listen," said she. "He shall not treat you as he has treated others.
Count seventy to the left from where you are working, and begin again.
But do not let him know that you have made a fresh start. And do a
little at the old place from time to time, as a blind." And before he
could thank her, the old woman was gone. Without more ado, however, he
counted seventy from the old place, and hit the seventieth tree such a
blow with his axe, that it came crashing down then and there. And he
found that, one after another, the trees yielded to his blows as if
they were touch-wood. He did a good day's work, gave a few strokes in
the old spot, and came home, taking care to look as gloomy as before.

Day by day he got deeper and deeper into the wood, the trees falling
before him like dry elder twigs; and now the hardest part of his work
was walking backwards and fowards to the giant's home, for the forest
seemed almost interminable. But on the three hundred and sixty-sixth
day from his first meeting with the giant, the soldier cut fairly
through on to an open plain, and as the light streamed in, a magpie
flew away, and on searching her nest, the soldier found his mother's
wedding-ring. He also found many precious stones of priceless value,
which were evidently the lost crown jewels. And as his term of service
with the giant was now ended, he did not trouble himself to return,
but with the ring and the jewels in his pocket set off to find his way
to the capital.

He soon fell in with a