e Prince.

It was just about this time that the Gryphoness, who had been
searching for the Prince, caught her first sight of him. Perceiving
that he was about to be attacked, she rushed to his aid. The Amazon
sailors reached him before she did, and seizing upon him they began
to pull him away. The Prince resisted stoutly; but seeing that his
assailants were women, he would not draw his sword. The Amazon
Captain and mate, who were armed with broad knives, now raised their
weapons, and called upon the Prince to surrender or die. But at this
moment, the Gryphoness reached the spot, and catching the Captain and
mate, each by an arm, she dragged them back from the Prince. The
other Amazons, however, continued the combat; and the Prince defended
himself by pushing them into the shallow water, where the Water
Sprite nearly stifled them by throwing over them showers of spray.
And now came riding up the Absolute Fool. Seeing a youth engaged in
combat with the Amazon sailors, his blood boiled with indignation.

"A man fighting women!" he exclaimed. "What a coward! My arm shall
ever assist the weaker sex."

Jumping from the horse, he drew his sword, and rushed upon the
Prince. The Gryphoness saw the danger of the latter, and she would
have gone to his assistance, but she was afraid to loosen her hold of
the Amazon Captain and mate.

Spreading her wings she flew to the top of a tree where she deposited
the two warlike women upon a lofty branch, from which she knew it
would take them a long time to get down to the ground. When she
descended she found that the Absolute Fool had reached the Prince.
The latter, being a brave fellow, although of so gentle a
disposition, had been glad to find a man among his assailants, and
had drawn his sword to defend himself. The two had just begun to
fight when the Gryphoness seized the Absolute Fool by the waist and
hurled him backward into some bushes.

"You must not fight him!" she cried to the Prince. "He is beneath
your rank! And as you will not draw your sword against these Amazons
you must fly from them. If you run fast they cannot overtake you."

The Prince followed her advice, and sheathing his sword he rapidly
ran along the bank, followed by some of the Amazons who had succeeded
in getting the water out of their eyes and mouths.

"Run from women!" contemptuously remarked the Absolute Fool. "If you
had not interfered with me," he said to the Gryphoness, "I should
soon have put an en