The gardener’s son soon found out that the witch was far from being a pleasant person. She was dreadfully unkind to poor Sootface and would beat him unmercifully, and much of his time was spent in trying to defend him from her anger. Besides this, he had to sweep the hut, carry water, dig in the garden, prepare the horrid dishes which she liked to eat, and take care of her magic instruments. As he was clever he did his best to learn all the magic he could; this he did by the cat’s advice. When the old woman was out, Sootface would show him where her book of magic was kept and they would take it out and read it together. The cat admired him immensely. One day the witch set off on a journey and Sootface and the gardener’s son went out for a walk. When they had gone some way they sat down by a hill-side to rest, for the day was hot and they were glad of the shade of a spreading tree which stood by the path. In a few minutes they saw the beautiful Princess who lived in the King’s palace approaching them. She looked very sad, but, when she saw the gardener’s son, she smiled and sat down beside him under the tree, telling him that she had run away from the palace when no one was looking because she wanted to consult the witch. “But the witch is away from home,” said he. “Oh dear! oh dear! what _shall_ I do?” cried the Princess, wringing her hands. Then she explained that her uncle the King wished her to marry the Prince, but that she hated him, and meant to ask the witch for some magic spell to help her to escape from him. She wanted to go far away to the country where her sister lived; for her sister had married a great King and had a kingdom of her own. “And when will the witch come back?” she asked. “Not for six weeks,” said the gardener’s son. The poor Princess began to cry, which made him very sad, and Sootface mewed at the top of his voice for sympathy. “If you will stop crying,” said he, “I will go with you on your journey and take care of you till you reach the end of it.” “And I will go too,” said Sootface. Now the cat and the gardener’s son had brought out the witch’s book of magic to study as they rested by the wayside, and they determined to see if it would give them any advice for the journey. The cat placed the book open before them on the grass and repeated a song he had heard the witch sing: “Flames and salt, And queens and kings, And monkeys’ tails, And golden rings.” Then they all could see how the letters on the page were jumping about, and how they were arranging themselves into a verse. When the verse was made they read it, and found that it told the gardener’s son to go back to the witch’s hut before starting and cut a stick from the cherry-tree; so he obeyed at once, and presently returned with a good strong staff in his hand, and at sunset they set off for the kingdom of the Princess’s sister.