Thus when, in the dead of the night, the beauteous lady called on her
familiar spirit to take her to Lucifer himself, Jack in his coat of
darkness and his shoes of swiftness was there before her.

"Thou hast betrayed me once," said the beauteous lady to Lucifer,
frowning, "by letting go my handkerchief. Now will I give thee something
none can steal, and so best the Prince, King's son though he be."

With that she kissed the loathly demon full on the lips, and left him.
Whereupon Jack with one blow of the rusty sword of strength cut off
Lucifer's head, and, hiding it under his coat of darkness, brought it
back to his master.

Thus next morning when the beauteous lady, with malice in her beautiful
eyes, asked the Prince to show her the lips she had last kissed, he
pulled out the demon's head by the horns. On that the seven devils,
which possessed the poor lady, gave seven dreadful shrieks and left her.
Thus the enchantment being broken, she appeared in all her perfect
beauty and goodness.

So she and the Prince were married the very next morning. After which
they journeyed back to the court of King Arthur, where Jack the
Giant-Killer, for his many exploits, was made one of the Knights of the
Round Table.

V

This, however, did not satisfy our hero, who was soon on the road again
searching for giants. Now he had not gone far when he came upon one,
seated on a huge block of timber near the entrance to a dark cave. He
was a most terrific giant. His goggle eyes were as coals of fire, his
countenance was grim and gruesome; his cheeks, like huge flitches of
bacon, were covered with a stubbly beard, the bristles of which
resembled rods of iron wire, while the locks of hair that fell on his
brawny shoulders showed like curled snakes or hissing adders. He held a
knotted iron club, and breathed so heavily you could hear him a mile
away. Nothing daunted by this fearsome sight, Jack alighted from his
horse and, putting on his coat of darkness, went close up to the giant
and said softly: "Hullo! is that you? It will not be long before I have
you fast by your beard."

[Illustration: Seated on a huge block of timber near the entrance to a
dark cave]

So saying he made a cut with the sword of strength at the giant's head,
but, somehow, missing his aim, cut off the nose instead, clean as a
whistle! My goodness! How the giant roared! It was like claps of
thunder, and he began to lay about him with the knotted iron club, like