goat could find foothold. So he got up again, and made his way
round through the wood, pushing by trees, scrambling over rocks,
wading through streams, till at last he was on flat ground again,
close to the mouth of the cavern.

His wife gave a shriek of joy when he came in, and then burst
into tears, for she was tired and very frightened. But her
husband did not understand why she wept, and he was tired and
bruised from his climb, and a little cross too.

'You give me but a sorry welcome,' grumbled he, 'when I have
half-killed myself to get to you.'

'Do not heed him,' said the horses to the weeping woman; 'put him
in front of us, where he will be safe, and give him food, for he
is weary.' And she did as the horses told her, and he ate and
rested, till by and bye a long shadow fell over them, and their
hearts beat with fear, for they knew that the giant was coming.

'I smell a stranger,' cried the giant, as he entered; but it was
dark inside the chasm, and he did not see the king, who was
crouching down between the feet of the horses.

'A stranger, my lord! no stranger ever comes here, not even the
sun!' and the king's wife laughed gaily as she went up to the
giant and stroked the huge hand which hung down by his side.

'Well, I perceive nothing, certainly,' answered he, 'but it is
very odd. However, it is time that the horses were fed;' and he
lifted down an armful of hay from a shelf of rock and held out a