, signs were not wanting that the city, if not deserted, was very
thinly inhabited. The streets were neglected; the houses for the most
part were falling to decay; and though, no doubt, those who remained--if
any--feared a visit from the man-eating giants, still no watch was set,
and the Prince, as he made his way through the streets, saw no one.

At last, as he went on, he espied a high tower, and, at one of its
windows, there was a light. He made his way to this tower, and quickly
ran up the stairs leading to the room that contained the light. At last,
seeing its rays through the crack of the door, he turned the handle and
entered.

A strange sight met his gaze as he stood a moment on the threshold. It
was a splendid apartment of velvet and gold, magnificently decorated;
but what immediately riveted his eyes was the figure of a beautiful
princess sleeping upon a richly furnished couch. She was lovely to look
upon; and, as he advanced into the room, he could see nothing but her.
Presently, however, a hiss greeted his ears; and, looking up, he was
startled to see a huge snake lying on the ledge above the couch, with
its arched neck bent down ready to strike the sleeping girl.

With a loud cry the Prince tried to attract its attention; then, as it
raised its head, he snatched his dagger from his belt, and, with one
blow, pinned its head to the wall.

'Hold wood! Hold dagger!' he cried, releasing the hilt. 'None can draw
that blade from the wall but him who planted it there!'

Then, without waking the beautiful maiden, he stole from the room and
went back over the city wall, and beyond, till he came again to the
giants' cave, where he quickly gathered some fuel and hurried back to
his brothers, whom he found still sleeping. When he had set the fire in
a blaze, he watched till the hour of sunrise, and then woke them with a
loud cry:

'Arouse ye, my brothers; the day is here!'

But he told them nothing of his adventures of the night.

When they set out they came very soon to a high-road that led to the
gates of the Tsar's city. Now it was the daily practice of the Tsar to
walk in the ways of the city for an hour after sunrise, and bewail the
death of those of his people who had perished by the hands of the
giants, and also to pray fervently that his own daughter would never so
perish. So it was that on this same morning he came, by his wanderings
through empty streets, to the part of the wall where the tall
tree-la