him a bite and a sup and a bit
over, and while he was eating and drinking she sat and talked with
him.

"What is the news here in the city?" asked the lad.

"Oh the same news as ever."

"And what is that? For I am a stranger here and know no more of
yesterday or the week before than of to-day."

"Then I will tell you. Over yonder lies the castle, and the King lives
there. He has only one daughter, and she is a beauty, you may believe.
Every night the Princess disappears from the castle, and where she
goes no one can tell but herself, and she will not. So the King has
offered a reward to any one who will find out. The half of his kingdom
he offers and the hand of the Princess as well, if only any one can
tell him where she goes."

"That is a good hearing," said the lad. "I have a mind to try for that
prize myself."

"No, but wait a bit," said the old woman. "There is another side to
the story, for if you try and fail your head will be lifted from your
shoulders with a sharp sword, and you are too fine a young man to lose
your life in that way."

But the lad was determined to try. In vain the old woman warned and
entreated him. He thanked her for the meal he had eaten, and then off
he set for the palace. There he told the errand that had brought him
and after that it did not take long for him to get to see the King.

"So you think you can find out where the Princess goes at night," said
the King.

Yes, the lad thought he could.

Very well, then, he might have a try at it, but he must remember that
if he tried and failed his head would be cut from his shoulders with a
sharp sword.

Yes, the lad understood that, and he was ready to take the risk.

So that night he was taken to the door of a room in a high tower, and
the room was of iron and had only one door and one window. Into this
room the Princess was put every night, and it would be the duty of the
lad to watch at the door and see either that she did not leave it, or
where she went.

Presently the Princess came upstairs and passed by the lad without so
much as a glance, but his heart leaped within him, she was so
beautiful.

She opened the door to go in, and the lad put on his turban of
darkness and slipped in after her, but the Princess did not know that
because he was invisible. She closed the door tight and sighed three
times, and then a great black demon stood before her, and he was
terrible to look upon, he was so huge and ugly.

"Oh, my dea