ould not get round her, while
his sword glanced, blunted, from off her skin. Blow after blow he
struck, but they only served to increase her fury, till, gathering all
her strength together, she wound her great tail about his body, pressing
him close against her horny bosom.

'Strangle her, else she sure will strangle thee,' cried Una, who had
been watching the combat as well as the darkness would let her; and the
knight heard, and seized the monster by the throat, till she was forced
to let go her hold on him. Then, grasping his sword, he cut her head
clean from her body.

* * * * *

Fain would they now leave the dreadful wood which had been the nurse of
such an evil creature, and by following a track where the leaves grew
less thickly, they at last found themselves on the other side of the
plain, just as the sun was sinking to rest. They pushed on fast, hoping
to find a shelter for the night, but none could they spy. The plain
seemed bare, save for one old man in the guise of a hermit who was
approaching them.

Him the Red Cross Knight stopped and asked if he knew of any adventures
which might await him in that place. The old man, who was in truth the
magician Archimago, the professor of lore which could read the secrets
of men's hearts, answered that the hour was late for the undertaking of
such things, and bade them rest for the night in his cell hard by. So
saying, he led them into a little dell amidst a group of trees, in
which stood a chapel and the dwelling of the hermit.

[Illustration: THE RED CROSS KNIGHT ENTERS THE MONSTER'S CAVE]

It was but a short space before both knight and lady were sleeping
soundly on the beds of fern which the hermit told them he had always at
hand for the entertainment of guests. But, for himself, he crept unseen
to a little cave inside a rock, and taking out his magic books he sought
therein for mighty charms to trouble sleepy minds!

He soon found what he wanted, and repeated some strange words aloud. In
an instant there fluttered round him a crowd of little sprites awaiting
his bidding, but he motioned all aside except two--one of whom he kept
with him and the other he sent on a message to the house of Morpheus,
the god of sleep.

'I come from Archimago the wizard,' said the sprite when he reached his
journey's end. 'Give me, I pray you, as swiftly as may be, a bad dream,
that I may carry it back to him.'

Slowly the god rose up, and, goin