"When the chickens begin to cackle, father will awaken," she whispered.
"Leap back into the tank and I will shut down the lid."
The prince hesitated.
"Do as I say, or we are both lost," said the girl.
The prince jumped into the tank, and Yellow Lily closed the lid. The splash aroused the giant, who stretched his heavy limbs, rubbed his nose, and yawned. Then he opened his eyes, gazed all about him, strode across the room, opened the tank, and shouted:
"Good morning, Prince of Erin; how did you like your nice soft bed last night?"
"I never slept better, thank you," truthfully answered the prince.
"Then climb out," commanded the giant.
The prince obeyed.
"Since you have slept so soundly, you shall do some hard work to-day," said the giant. "I will spare you your head if you will clean out my stables.
They contain five hundred horses and they have not been cleaned for seven hundred years. I am anxious to find my great-grandmother"s slumber-pin which was lost somewhere in these stables. The poor old soul never slept a wink after losing it, so she died for want of sleep. I want the slumber-pin for my own use, as I am a very light sleeper."
"I will do my best to get the pin," said the prince, almost discouraged, for he had never so much as cleaned the tips of his boots.
"Here are two shovels, an old one and a new one," said the giant gruffly.
"You may take your choice. Dig away until you find the slumber-pin. I shall expect it when I come home to-night."
The prince took the new shovel and followed the giant to the stables where hundreds of horses began to neigh, making a most deafening noise.
"Remember, Prince of Erin, I will either have the slumber-pin or your head," said the giant, as he walked away.
The prince set to work, but every time he threw a shovelful out of the window, two shovelfuls came flying in to take its place. At last, tired and discouraged, he sat down to rest.
At that moment Yellow Lily appeared, more beautiful than ever in another gown of gold and silver, with yellow flowers in her golden hair.
"What are you trying to do, Prince of Erin?" she asked, dimpling with laughter.
"I am trying to find your great-great-grandmother"s slumber-pin," was the pitiful reply.
"You are a mighty prince and my father is a mighty giant, yet you are both foolish as all men are," she said. "How do you suppose my great-great-grandmother could lose her slumber-pin in the stables? I have the slumber-pin myself; here it is. I put it in father"s pocket last night so he could not wake up and catch us."
"What a useful girl you are!" cried the Prince, beside himself with joy and admiration.
All day long they visited until Yellow Lily said that she must go, for she heard her father"s footsteps a league away, and he would be there in two minutes.
When the giant saw that the prince had found the slumber-pin, he was greatly surprised.
"Either my daughter, Yellow Lily, has aided you, or else it was the Evil Spirit," he muttered.
Before the prince could reply, the giant picked him up, carried him back to the kitchen, and again threw him into the tank. Then he sat down by the fire, holding the slumber-pin. Soon he began to snore like a thousand locomotives.
Up went the lid of the tank, and Yellow Lily, sweet and smiling, shouted down at the top of her voice:
"Get up from your soft bed, Prince of Erin; eat the supper I have prepared, and talk as loudly as you wish, for father has gone to sleep holding great-great-grandmother"s slumber-pin."
The evening they spent together was a merry one, and after Yellow Lily had joined her sisters in the watch-tower, the prince again slept in the soft bed in the corner of the kitchen. At dawn Yellow Lily again awakened him and told him to hurry back to the tank.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Up went the lid of the tank, and Yellow Lily sweet and smiling.]
As soon as the lid was closed, Yellow Lily rushed to her father"s side, seized the slumber-pin, and threw it upon the floor. The giant gave a roar and fell sprawling upon the cobblestones.
"Who woke me up?" he growled, trying to gain his feet.
"I did, dear father," said the girl meekly. "You would have slept forever had I not pulled the slumber-pin from your grasp. It is very late."
"You are a good, trustworthy daughter," said the giant. "I will get you something pretty."
He went to the tank and commanded the prince to get out of his nice, soft bed.
"You have lain in bed so long, you must work still harder to-day," he added. "My stables have not been thatched for many years, and I want you to do it to-day. They cover many acres, but if you finish them before dark I will spare you your head. They must be thatched with feathers, to be put on one at a time, and no two of them must be alike."
The prince was again cast down, but he said that he would do his best.
"But where shall I find the birds?" he asked after a period of helpless silence.
"Where do you suppose? I hope you would not try to find them in the frog pond," was the impatient answer. "Here are two whistles, an old one and a new one. You may take your choice."
"I"ll take the new one," said the prince, and the giant gave him a whistle that looked as though it had never been used.
"Some day you will learn that old things are best," said the giant scornfully.
When the giant had gone, the prince blew the whistle until his lips were puckered out of shape, but not a fowl came to his rescue. At last he sat down upon a rock, almost ready to cry.
But Yellow Lily came again, lovelier than ever in another yellow gown trimmed with the wings of dragon flies, and with pearls in her glorious hair.
"Why do you sit whistling instead of working?" she asked. "Poor prince, you must be hungry. Here is a little table set for two under this big tree.
When things worry you, don"t give up. The man who keeps his appet.i.te has no cause to despair."
So they sat down and ate peac.o.c.k tongues and frosted cakes and almonds and many other delicacies, and were happier than ever.
"But it is growing late, and the stable is still unthatched!" cried the prince, suddenly remembering his task as soon as his appet.i.te was satisfied.
"Look behind you," said the girl.
The prince, to his utter surprise, saw that the stables were thatched with downy bird feathers, no two of them alike.
"You are a wonder," he said, grasping her hands in grat.i.tude.
"Not at all," she replied. "How could the birds work for you while you stood there blowing that terrible whistle? Birds would be as good friends to people as dogs are, if people did not frighten them so. But say no more.
I hear father drinking at the spring two miles away, and he will be here in four minutes."