ere they sat down, and when they had sat for a short time the youngest
Princess said, 'I may as well comb your hair a little, Halvor.'

So Halvor laid his head down on her lap, and she combed it, and it was
not long before he fell asleep. Then she took her ring from him and put
another in its place, and then she said to her sisters: 'Hold me as I am
holding you. I would that we were at Soria Moria Castle.'

When Halvor awoke he knew that he had lost the Princesses, and began to
weep and lament, and was so unhappy that he could not be comforted. In
spite of all his father's and mother's entreaties, he would not stay,
but bade them farewell, saying that he would never see them more, for
if he did not find the Princess again he did not think it worth while to
live.

He again had three hundred dollars, which he put into his pocket and
went on his way. When he had walked some distance he met a man with a
tolerably good horse. Halvor longed to buy it, and began to bargain with
the man.

'Well, I have not exactly been thinking of selling him,' said the man,
'but if we could agree, perhaps----'

Halvor inquired how much he wanted to have for the horse.

'I did not give much for him, and he is not worth much; he is a capital
horse to ride, but good for nothing at drawing; but he will always be
able to carry your bag of provisions and you too, if you walk and ride
by turns.' At last they agreed about the price, and Halvor laid his
bag on the horse, and sometimes he walked and sometimes he rode. In the
evening he came to a green field, where stood a great tree, under which
he seated himself. Then he let the horse loose and lay down to sleep,
but before he did that he took his bag off the horse. At daybreak he
set off again, for he did not feel as if he could take any rest. So he
walked and rode the whole day, through a great wood where there were
many green places which gleamed very prettily among the trees. He did
not know where he was or whither he was going, but he never lingered
longer in any place than was enough to let his horse get a little food
when they came to one of these green spots, while he himself took out
his bag of provisions.

So he walked and he rode, and it seemed to him that the wood would never
come to an end. But on the evening of the second day he saw a light
shining through the trees.

'If only there were some people up there I might warm myself and get
something to eat,' thought Halvor.

When h