Tush; it is only some of that foolish Pin's Head's nonsense. Really he ought to be banished from the kingdom; the size of his head is too contemptible!' 'No fear of yours ever bursting with wisdom,' was the retort of Pin's Head's wife, the cleverest of all the female Bigheads. 'He is talking better sense now than you are; for his companion is a Fairy, and no mistake; I can see that plainly enough.' And in consequence of her fortunate intervention, the crowd made way for Ulfva, and he was ushered into the presence of the King, who was seated on his throne, groaning frightfully with pain and terror, while twenty of his subjects were propping up his enormous head, hoping thus to save it from cracking. In the twinkling of an eye Ulfva had clambered up the huge face, and under the touch of his soft little hands the throbbing and racking agony were rapidly disappearing. There was no longer any fear that the King's head would crack, and the props fell off one by one, as they saw the magical spell working. The Monarch gave three or four deep-drawn sighs of relief; and Ulfva, clambering down from his high perch, knelt on one knee and made his petition : 'O wise King of the Bigheads, in return for the service I have been fortunate enough to render you, tell me, I pray, the hiding-place of the six missing Princesses.' 'Is there no easier favour you can ask?' inquired the King. 'It might perhaps be possible for me to give you some information on the subject; but in order to do so, I should have to search the most distant corners of my head, and I fear the effort might cause it to crack.' 'No fear of that, great King, while I am here to soothe the pain,' answered Ulfva. Not wishing to appear ungrateful, the King began thinking and hunting in every corner of his head for the desired information; and every now and then he would scream out, 'It is going to crack-I know it is!' And then the twenty props would fly to him to hold his head; and Ulfva's little hands would begin their work, and quickly dispel the alarming symptoms. Presently the King began muttering to himself: Six white Swans, Six black Tongs, 'There—that's all the information I can give you, and a great trouble it has been to search it out. You must travel on and on, until you find six Swans, six Tongs, six Crones, and six Bones, in connection with each other. Then you will be near the solution of the difficulty.' Ulfva thanked him most humbly; and having taken an affectionate leave of Pin's Head, he left the city of the Bigheads, and once more resumed his travels. The information he had received was certainly scanty; still it was better than nothing, and he felt more hopeful than he had done for many days past. Knowing how important it was to have every sense on the alert, he now tried to keep his mind free from even loving thoughts of Justicia; and this was the beginning of the blank, dismal time endured by the poor little Fairy. But all things come to an end at last, if we wait long enough; and one day, after a long weary time had come and gone since leaving the City of the Bigheads, Ulfva found himself in a wild, dreary tract of country. The sun was setting, and the air was strangely still and quiet. Suddenly he saw a white object in the far distance, and he knew it to be a Swan. ‘If one Swan, why not six?' he said to himself, hope rising in his breast at the sight, and he hastened on towards the bird. On his way he saw a pair of Tongs, saddled and bridled, and seated on the ground a few yards off, an old Crone munching bones. One Swan, one pair of Tongs, one old Crone munch |