kindling-wood after I had gotten all that I wanted. But there it
was, and in an instant the magician resumed his own shape. Down
he sat him upon the stool. "I wish," said he, "that this palace
and the princess and all who are within it, together with its
orchards and its lawns and its gardens and everything, may be
removed to such and such a country, upon the other side of the
earth."

And as the stool had obeyed the soldier, so everything was done
now just as the magician said.

The next morning back came the hunting-party, and as they rode
over the hill--lo and behold!--there lay stretched out the great
parade ground in which the king's armies used to march around and
around, and the land was as bare as the palm of my hand. Not a
stick or a stone of the palace was left; not a leaf or a blade of
the orchards or gardens was to be seen.

The soldier sat as dumb as a fish, and the king stared with eyes
and mouth wide open. "Where is the palace, and where is my
daughter?" said he, at last, finding words and wit.

"I do not know," said the soldier.

The king's face grew as black as thunder. "You do not know?" he
said, "then you must find out. Seize the traitor!" he cried.

But that was easier said than done, for, quick as a wink, as they
came to lay hold of him, the soldier whisked the feather cap from
his pocket and clapped it upon his head, and then they might as