and inquired if any of them knew where Whiteland lay.
No, none knew this. Long after the others there came an old eagle. He
had been absent ten whole years, but he too knew no more than the rest.

'Well, well,' said the man, 'then you shall have the loan of a pair of
snow shoes of mine. If you wear them you will get to my brother, who
lives hundreds of miles from here. He is Lord of all the fish in the
sea--you can ask him. But do not forget to turn the shoes round.'

The King thanked him, put on the shoes, and when he had got to him who
was Lord of all the fish in the sea, he turned the snow shoes round, and
back they went just as the others had gone, and he asked once more where
Whiteland was.

The man called the fish together with his horn, but none of them knew
anything about it. At last came an old, old pike, which he had great
difficulty in bringing home to him.

When he asked the pike, it said, 'Yes, Whiteland is well known to me,
for I have been cook there these ten years. To-morrow morning I have
to go back there, for now the Queen, whose King is staying away, is to
marry some one else.'

'If that be the case I will give you a piece of advice,' said the man.
'Not far from here on a moor stand three brothers, who have stood there
a hundred years fighting for a hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots; if
any one has these three things he can make himself invisible, and if he
desires to go to any place, he has but to wish and he is there. You may
tell them that you have a desire to try these things, and then you will
be able to decide which of the men is to have them.'

So the King thanked him and went, and did what he had said.

'What is this that you are standing fighting about for ever and ever?'
said he to the brothers; 'let me make a trial of these things, and then
I will judge between you.'

They willingly consented to this, but when he had got the hat, the
cloak, and the boots, he said, 'Next time we meet you shall have my
decision,' and hereupon he wished himself away.

While he was going quickly through the air he fell in with the North
Wind.

'And where may you be going?' said the North Wind.

'To Whiteland,' said the King, and then he related what had happened to
him.

'Well,' said the North Wind, 'you can easily go a little quicker than
I can, for I have to puff and blow into every corner; but when you get
there, place yourself on the stairs by the side of the door, and then
I will come bluste