d him the island of the giantess was
like a faint red speck in the distance. The day passed and the night
fell, and the stars looked down, and the boat sailed on, and just as the
sun rose above the sea it pushed its silver prow on the golden strand of
an island greener than the leaves in summer. The prince jumped out, and
went on and on until he entered a pleasant valley, at the head of which
he saw a palace white as snow.

As he approached the central door it opened for him. On entering the hall
he passed into several rooms without meeting with anyone; but, when he
reached the principal apartment, he found himself in a circular room, in
which were a thousand pillars, and every pillar was of marble, and on
every pillar save one, which stood in the centre of the room, was a
little white cat with black eyes. Ranged round the wall, from one
door-jamb to the other, were three rows of precious jewels. The first
was a row of brooches of gold and silver, with their pins fixed in the
wall and their heads outwards; the second a row of torques of gold and
silver; and the third a row of great swords, with hilts of gold and
silver. And on many tables was food of all kinds, and drinking horns
filled with foaming ale.[11]

While the prince was looking about him the cats kept on jumping from
pillar to pillar; but seeing that none of them jumped on to the pillar
in the centre of the room, he began to wonder why this was so, when, all
of a sudden, and before he could guess how it came about, there right
before him on the center pillar was the little white cat.

"Don't you know me?" said he.

"I do," said the prince.

"Ah, but you don't know who I am. This is the palace of the Little White
Cat, and I am the King of the Cats. But you must be hungry, and the
feast is spread."

Well, when the feast was ended, the King of the Cats called for the
sword that would kill the giant Trencoss, and the hundred cakes for the
hundred watch-dogs.

The cats brought the sword and the cakes and laid them before the king.

"Now," said the king, "take these; you have no time to lose. To-morrow
the dwarfs will wind the last ball, and to-morrow the giant will claim
the princess for his bride. So you should go at once; but before you go
take this from me to your little girl."

And the king gave him a brooch lovelier than any on the palace walls.

The king and the prince, followed by the cats, went down to the strand,
and when the prince stepped int