instant, slave!"

He stood aside for her to pass, and Twinkle ran at once to the
fireplace. The pot was now before her, and within easy reach, and it was
bubbling hot.

In an instant she reached out her hand and tossed the turtle into the
boiling water; and then, with a cry of horror at her own action, she
drew back to see what would happen.

The turtle was a fairy, all right; and he had known very well the best
way to break the enchantment his enemy had put upon him. For no sooner
had Twinkle tossed him into the boiling pot than a great hissing was
heard, and a cloud of steam hid for an instant the fireplace. Then, as
it cleared away, a handsome young prince stepped forward, fully armed;
for the turtle was again a fairy, and the kettle had changed into a
strong shield which he bore upon his left arm, and the iron spoon was
now a long and glittering sword.

Chapter VIII
Twinkle Receives a Medal

THE giant gave a roar like that of a baby bull when he saw Prince Melga
standing before him, and in a twinkling he had caught up a big club that
stood near and began whirling it over his head. But before it could
descend, the prince ran at him and stuck his sword as far as it would go
into the corrugated body of the giant. Again the monster roared and
tried to fight; but the sword had hurt him badly, and the prince pushed
it into the evil creature again and again, until the end came, and his
corrugated enemy rolled over upon the floor quite dead.

Then the fairy turned to Twinkle, and kneeling before her he kissed her
hand.

"Thank you very much," he said, in a sweet voice, "for setting me free.
You are a very brave little girl!"

"I'm not so sure about that," she answered. "I was dreadfully scared!"

Now he took her hand and led her from the castle; and she didn't have to
squeeze through the fence again, because the fairy had only to utter a
magic word and the gate flew open. And when they turned to look back,
the castle of the Corrugated Giant, with all that it had contained, had
vanished from sight, never to be seen again by either mortal or fairy
eyes. For that was sure to happen whenever the giant was dead.

The prince led Twinkle into the valley where the fairy palaces stood,
and told all his people, when they crowded around to welcome him, how
kind the little girl had been to him, and how her courage had enabled
him to defeat the giant and to regain his proper form. And all the
fairies praised Twinkle wi