“Now it is my turn,” said Broad. Then he lay down and put his mouth to the sea and began to drink. He drank and drank and swelled and swelled until it was wonderful to see him, and in the end he swallowed so much of the water that it was easy enough for Long to reach down and pick up the shell.
“And now we must make haste,” cried Sharpsight, “for as I look back at the castle I see that the Magician is already waking.”
At once Long took his companions on his shoulders and started back the way he had come. But Broad had drunk so much water and was so heavy that Long could not go as fast as he otherwise would. “Broad, you will have to wait here, and I will come back for you later,” he cried, and with that he threw Broad down from his shoulder as though he had been a sack full of grain.
Broad had not been expecting such a fall and was not prepared for it. He gasped and choked, and then the sea he had swallowed rose all about them; it filled the valley and washed up over the foot of the mountains. Long was so tall that he was able to wade out of it, though the water was up to his waist, and Sharpsight too was safe, for he was on Long’s shoulder; but Broad was like to have been drowned. He only saved himself by catching hold of Long’s hand, and so he was drawn out of the water and up on dry land.
“That was a pretty trick to play upon me,” he gasped and spluttered.
But Long had no time to answer him, for already Sharpsight was whispering in his ear that the Magician had awakened and was now on his way to the Prince. He caught Broad by the belt and swung him up on his shoulder, and this he could easily do, because now Broad was so shrunken that he was quite light.
[Illustration: THERE WAS A GREAT BLACK RAVEN IN THE ROOM WITH THEM]
In two more steps Long had reached the castle, but already the Magician was opening the door of the chamber where the Prince was.
“Quick! Quick!” cried Sharpsight. “Throw the pearl in at the window.”
And indeed there was no time to be lost. Long threw the pearl in through the window, and the moment it touched the floor it turned into the Princess. She stood there before the Prince, no longer pale and sad, but smiling and as rosy as the dawn.
Already the Magician was in the room, with an evil smile upon his face. When he saw the Princess standing there he gave a cry so loud and terrible that the whole castle shook with it. And now the third iron band that was about his waist broke.