inexhaustible bottle. "I shall stay here to
practise sword-cuts and sword-thrusts," said the King's Son, "until four
days before Midsummer's Day." The two youths went to the door.

"Seven waves of good-luck to you, Old Woman of Beare," said Gilly of the
Goatskin.

"May your double be slain and yourself remain," said the King's Son.
Then they went out together, but not along the same path did the two
youths go.

Gilly slept as he traveled that night, for he fell in with a man who was
driving a load of hay to the fair, and when he got into the cart he lay
against the hay and slept. When he parted with the carter he cut a holly
stick and journeyed along the road by himself. At the fall of night he
came to a place that made him think he had been there before: he looked
around and then he knew that this was the place he had lived in when he
had the Crystal Egg. He looked to see if the house was there: it
was, and people were living in it, for he saw smoke coming out of the
chimney. It was dark now and Gilly thought he could not do better than
take shelter in that house.

He went to the door and knocked. There was a lot of rattling behind,
and then a crooked old woman opened the door to him. "What do you want?"
said she.

"Can I have shelter here for to-night, ma'am?" said Gilly.

"You can get no shelter hem," said the old woman, "and I'd advise you to
begone."

"May I ask who lives here?" said Gilly, putting his foot inside the
door.

"Six very honest men whose business keeps them out until two and three
in the morning," said the crooked old woman.

Gilly guessed that the honest men whose business kept them out until
two and three in the morning were the robbers he had heard about. And he
thought they might be the very men who had carried off the Spae-Woman's
goose and the Crystal Egg along with it. "Would you tell me, good
woman," said Gilly, "did your six honest men ever bring to this house an
old hatching goose?"

"They did indeed," said the crooked woman, "and a heart-scald the same
old hatching goose is. It goes round the house and round the house,
trying to hatch the cups I leave out of my hands."

Then Gilly pushed the door open wide and stepped into the house.

"Don't stay in the house," said the crooked old woman. "I'll tell you
the truth now. My masters are robbers, and they'll skin you alive if
they find you here when they come back in the morning."

"It's more likely I'll skin them alive," said