“’With my balls and my ready wit I shall yet conquer the evil powers that are against my poor Prince,’ she said to herself cheerfully.  ’Courage! all will be well.”

“But there were sore trials to go through in the first place.  The Princess set off on her journey.  She had to walk many weary miles across the moor, the cold wind blowing in her face, the rough ground pricking her tender feet.  But she walked on and on till at last the morning broke and she saw a road before her, bordered on one side by a forest of trees, for she had reached the extreme edge of the moor.  She had gone but a little way when she came to a small and miserable hovel, from which issued feeble sounds of distress.  The Princess went up to the door and looked in—­a very old woman sat huddled up in a corner weeping and lamenting herself.

“‘What is the matter, my friend?’ asked the Princess.

“‘Matter enough,’ replied the old woman.  ’I cannot light my fire, and I am bitterly cold.  Either the sticks are wet, or the strength has gone out of my poor old arms.’

“‘Let me help you,’ said the Princess.  ‘My arms are strong enough.’

“She took the sticks and arranged them cleverly in the fireplace, and just as she was choosing two of the driest to rub together to get a light, one of her balls dropped out of her pocket.  It fell on to the piled-up wood, and immediately a bright flame danced up the chimney.  The Princess picked up her ball and put it back in her pocket, cheered and encouraged by this proof of their magic power.  The old woman came near to the fire, and stretched out her withered hands to the blaze.

“‘What can I do for you, my pretty lady,’ she said, ’in return for your good nature?’

“‘Give me a cup of milk to refresh me for my journey,’ said the Princess.  ’And perhaps, too, you can tell me something about my journey.  Are the hill of ice and the sea of glass anywhere in this neighbourhood?’

“The old woman smiled and nodded her head two or three times.

“‘Seven days must you travel,’ she said, ’before you see them.  At the foot of the hill of ice lies the sea of glass.  No mortal foot unaided has ever crossed the one or ascended the other.  Here, take these shoes—­with them you can safely walk over the sea of glass, and with this staff you can mount the hill of ice,’ and as she spoke she handed to the Princess a pair of curiously carved wooden shoes and a short sharp-pointed stick.  The Princess took them gratefully, and would have thanked the old woman, whom she now knew to be a fairy, but she stopped her. “‘Think not,’ she said, ’that your difficulties will be over when you have reached the summit of the hill of ice.  But all I can do for you more is to give you this nut, which you must open in your moment of sorest perplexity.’

“And as the Princess held out her hand for the nut the old woman had disappeared.

“But refreshed and encouraged the Princess left the cottage, carrying with her her three gifts, and prepared to face all the perils of her journey with an undaunted heart.