e by the
heat of the mid-day sun, she fell asleep upon the grassy bank. Then the
Mischief-maker quietly crept near, and with his sharp shears cut off all
that wealth of hair, and shaved her head until it was as smooth as
her snow-white hand. Then he hid himself again in the little cave, and
chuckled with great glee at the wicked thing he had done.

By and by Sif awoke, and looked into the stream; but she started quickly
back with horror and affright at the image which she saw. She felt of
her shorn head; and, when she learned that those rich waving tresses
which had been her joy and pride were no longer there, she knew not what
to do. Hot, burning tears ran down her cheeks, and with sobs and shrieks
she began to call aloud for Thor. Forthwith there was a terrible uproar.
The lightning flashed, and the thunder rolled, and an earthquake shook
the rocks and trees. Loki, looking out from his hiding-place, saw that
Thor was coming, and he trembled with fear; for he knew, that, should
the Thunderer catch him, he would have to pay dearly for his wicked
sport. He ran quickly out of the cavern, and leaped into the river, and
changed himself into a salmon, and swam as swiftly as he could away from
the shore.

But Thor was not so easily fooled; for he had long known Loki, and was
acquainted with all his cunning ways. So when he saw Sif bewailing her
stolen hair, and beheld the frightened salmon hurrying alone towards
the deep water, he was at no loss to know whose work this mischief was.
Straightway he took upon himself the form of a sea-gull, and soared high
up over the water. Then, poising a moment in the air, he darted, swift
as an arrow, down into the river. When he arose from the water, he held
the struggling salmon tightly grasped in his strong talons.

"Vile Mischief-maker!" cried Thor, as he alighted upon the top of
a neighboring crag: "I know thee who thou art; and I will make thee
bitterly rue the work of this day. Limb from limb will I tear thee, and
thy bones will I grind into powder."

Loki, when he saw that he could not by any means get away from the angry
Thunderer, changed himself back to his own form, and humbly said to
Thor,--

"What if you do your worst with me? Will that give back a single hair to
Sif's shorn head? What I did was only a thoughtless joke, and I really
meant no harm. Do but spare my life, and I will more than make good the
mischief I have done."

"How can that be?" asked Thor.

"I will h