to treat him in the
same way as he had treated his companions.

[Illustration: THE LITTLE GRAY MAN "HE DEMANDED MORE"]

But the blacksmith was a match for him, for he seized a huge hammer and
struck off two of the dwarf's heads with it. The little man yelled with
pain and rage, and hastily fled from the house. The blacksmith ran
after him, and pursued him for a long way; but at last they came to an
iron door, and through it the little creature vanished. The door shut
behind him, and the blacksmith had to give up the pursuit and return
home. He found that the nun and the countryman had come back in the
meantime, and they were much delighted when he placed some food before
them, and showed them the two heads he had struck off with his hammer.
The three companions determined there and then to free themselves from
the power of the gray dwarf, and the very next day they set to work to
find him.

They had to walk a long way, and to search for many hours, before they
found the iron door through which the dwarf had disappeared; and when
they had found it they had the greatest difficulty in opening it. When
at last they succeeded in forcing the lock, they entered a large hall,
in which sat a young and lovely girl, working at a table. The moment she
saw the nun, the blacksmith, and the countryman, she fell at their feet,
thanking them with tears in her eyes for having set her free. She told
them that she was a king's daughter, who had been shut up in the castle
by a mighty magician. The day before, just about noon, she had suddenly
felt the magic power over her disappear, and ever since that moment she
had eagerly awaited the arrival of her deliverers. She went on to say
that there was yet another princess shut up in the castle, who had also
fallen under the might of the magician.

They wandered through many halls and rooms till at last they found the
second princess, who was quite as grateful as the first, and thanked the
three companions most warmly for having set her free.

Then the princesses told their rescuers that a great treasure lay hidden
in the cellars of the castle, but that it was carefully guarded by a
fierce and terrible dog.

Nothing daunted, they all went down below at once, and found the fierce
animal mounting guard over the treasure as the princesses had said. But
one blow from the blacksmith's hammer soon made an end of the monster,
and they found themselves in a vaulted chamber full of gold