truction."

"I have a weapon which has not yet failed me," the Prince assured her
bravely. "With it I will meet him, and by using it valiantly shall hope
to overcome him and deliver you." He was about to draw the Sword of
Fire, but the Shadow Witch prevented him.

"Not yet, not yet," she besought him. "Fully do I trust the marvelous
power of your Sword, and it will be potent here, I doubt not, if the
moment of its using be right, but I have heard that Curling Smoke
cannot be vanquished in his smoke chamber until he towers within it to
his fullest height. This I believe I have the power to make him do, and
when he has done so, I am sure you will not strike in vain. Till then
let your Sword rest quiet in its sheath, but keep your hand upon its
hilt, and when I give the word, draw it at once and strike quickly."

"It shall be as you say," the Prince promised her, looking into her
uplifted face with tender love.

While they had said these things, Curling Smoke had remained where he
was, waiting, as if in the hope that he might make visible, by his mere
gazing, those whom he had entrapped. Presently they heard his voice
crying aloud through the fog, "Let those beware who defy Curling Smoke.
Though they be invisible, they shall yet feel his power."

Beneath the Cloak of Ash, the Shadow Witch raised her grey sleeves and
waved them toward Curling Smoke. Prince Ember, watching to see what she
was about to do, saw a creature, as if in answer to the giant's cry,
take shape from among the smoke wreaths that lay along the ground and
begin to creep, half hidden by them, toward the giant.

Curling Smoke suddenly beheld it also, beheld it with curiosity and
astonishment, for this was neither the Prince nor the Shadow Witch, both
of whom he believed to be bound by his enchantment, but a stranger. How
he had entered the smoke chamber, he did not know. Remaining, poised
watchfully where he was, he kept his glittering eyes upon it, till it
should draw nearer.

Before it reached him it began to rise, to grow larger as it rose, and
he presently saw that it was a giant like himself, though smaller and
less terrible. His head was bent and his face hidden.

Curling Smoke gazed upon the newcomer with indignation. "Who are you,
who dare to venture unasked within the bounds that I have set?" he
demanded imperiously.

The stranger made no answer, but ceasing to mount, stood poised directly
in front of him, with his face still concealed.