“But you will return?” she questioned. “You will bring that precious pearl to me? If you stayed away you would be searched for in every corner of the land. You could not escape my vengeance. No matter how clever you were, the officers of the King would one day find you--even as they found you this time--and when you were caught your head would be brought back to court. Remember my words, Cave Man, if you play me false.” “Only let me get out, and if I do not return you are welcome to the head of the wisest man in the kingdom,” he told her. “But you must give me seven days--three to go, three to come back, and one day to persuade the dragon to give me the pearl, for he is a jealous monster and ugly when he is roused. It will not be an easy matter to get him to give me his treasure, and no one can steal it from him. “After the sun has set on the seventh day I will stand before you. Wearing my magic mantle, I will slip by the soldiers and the guards like a puff of wind, and no one will see me pass, no one hear my footsteps. And because this time I will have all my charms with me, no man can harm me. And I will bring you the greatest gift that was ever given to a woman.” Still chuckling to herself, the old woman unlocked the door of the little cell and slipped away. When she had gone the wizard laughed until his chains rattled. Then he lay down on the hard floor and fell into a peaceful sleep. That night the banquet in the King’s palace was a merry affair, and when the rejoicing was at its height the Queen-Mother came in and said: “Let us send wine to all the servants and to the jailers and even to the guards without, that they may all drink to the health of the lovely Queen.” “Good! Good!” cried the King, as he raised his cup on high. “Every one in the whole city shall have food and drink to-night. Let it be given freely to all.” But the eyes of many were already so heavy that they forgot to cheer his words, and soon one by one they fell over as they sat eating and rolled upon the floor. At last even the King was overcome, and went fast asleep in his great carved chair with his crown awry. And all of the servants, having had much wine, lay at their posts like dead men. When all was still the Queen-Mother ran to the prison, and taking the keys from the waist of the sleeping jailer, unlocked the wizard’s cell. He was expecting her, and he cried impatiently: “You were long in coming. The people everywhere will soon be astir, and they will capture me and bring me again to the King if they meet me on my way to the cave.” (For he did not want her to know that he was going straight to the haunted forest.) While he talked she had unfastened his chains with trembling hands.