e road, and whatever fortune you will have, I will
take chance of the same.'

They returned him sincere thanks for his kindness, and he, being well
acquainted with the road, in a short time brought them within view of
the knight's castle.

'Now,' says he, 'we must stay here till night comes; for I know all the
ways of the place, and if there be any chance for it, it is when they
are all at rest; for the steed is all the watch the knight keeps there.'

Accordingly, in the dead hour of the night, the King's three sons and
the Thief of Sloan attempted the Steed of Bells in order to carry him
away, but before they could reach the stables the steed neighed most
terribly and shook himself so, and the bells rung with such noise, that
the knight and all his men were up in a moment.

The Black Thief and the King's sons thought to make their escape,
but they were suddenly surrounded by the knight's guards and taken
prisoners; where they were brought into that dismal part of the palace
where the knight kept a furnace always boiling, in which he threw
all offenders that ever came in his way, which in a few moments would
entirely consume them.

'Audacious villains!' says the Knight of the Glen, 'how dare you attempt
so bold an action as to steal my steed? See, now, the reward of your
folly; for your greater punishment I will not boil you all together,
but one after the other, so that he that survives may witness the dire
afflictions of his unfortunate companions.'

So saying he ordered his servants to stir up the fire: 'We will boil
the eldest-looking of these young men first,' said he, 'and so on to the
last, which will be this old champion with the black cap. He seems to be
the captain, and looks as if he had come through many toils.'

'I was as near death once as the prince is yet,' says the Black Thief,
'and escaped; and so will he too.'

'No, you never were,' said the knight; 'for he is within two or three
minutes of his latter end.'

'But,' says the Black Thief, 'I was within one moment of my death, and I
am here yet.'

'How was that?' says the knight; 'I would be glad to hear it, for it
seems impossible.'

'If you think, sir knight,' says the Black Thief, 'that the danger I was
in surpasses that of this young man, will you pardon him his crime?'

'I will,' says the knight, 'so go on with your story.'

'I was, sir,' says he, 'a very wild boy in my youth, and came through
many distresses; once in particular, as