raw with the fork it only grew more and more, but
if he turned the handle towards it the straw moved away from the fork
and so he soon cleared it out of the stable.

When the giant came home the first thing he did was to go to the
stable; and when he saw it had all been cleared out he said to the
Prince:

"Ah, you've been talking to my Master-Maid. Well, to-morrow you'll
have to cut down that clump of trees."

"Very well, Master," said Prince Edgar, and thought that would not be
difficult.

But next morning the giant gave him an axe made of glass and told him
that he must cut down every one of the trees before nightfall.

When he had gone away, the Prince went to the Master-Maid and told her
what his task was.

"You cannot do that with such an axe, but never mind, I can help you.
Sleep here in peace and when you wake up you will see what you will
see."

So Prince Edgar trusted the Master-Maid and lay down and slept till
late in the afternoon, when he woke up and looked, and there were the
trees all felled and the Master-Maid was smiling by his side.

"How did you do it?" he said.

"That I may not say, but done it is, and that is all that you need
care for."

When the giant came home, the first thing he did was to go to the
clump of trees and found, to his surprise, that they had all been
felled.

"Ah, you've spoken to my Master-Maid," he said once more.

"Who is she?" said the Prince.

"You know well enough," said the giant. "But for her you could not
have cut down those trees with that glass axe."

"I do not know what you mean," said the Prince. "But at any rate,
there you have your trees cut down, what more do you want?"

"Well, well," grumbled the giant, "we'll see to-morrow whether you can
do what I tell you then," and would not say what his task should be
next day.

When the morning came, the giant pointed to the tallest tree in the
forest near them, and said:

"Do you see that birds' nest in the top of that tree? In it are six
eggs; you must climb up there and get all those eggs for me before
nightfall, and if one is broken woe betide you!"

At that Prince Edgar did not feel so happy, for there were no branches
to the tree till very near the top, and it was as smooth, as smooth as
it could be, and he did not see how possibly he could reach the birds'
nest. But when the giant had gone out for the day he went at once to
the Master-Maid and told her of his new task.

"That is the hardest of