The next morning as soon as it was light, the King led poor Jane to the room; and there was the flax and a bite of food.

"Now, my dear Jane," he said, "here is your wheel and here is your flax. If you fail to have five skeins spun before I come to see you to-night, you'll lose your head." Then he went out and locked the door behind him.

Jane sat down on the stool and cried louder than before. Then she heard a tap on the window: tac, tac, tac!

She jumped up and opened it, and there was the little old elf on the window sill.

"Where is the flax?" he said.

"Here it is," said Jane; and she gave it to him, and dried her tears.

In the evening she heard a tap on the window again: tac, tac, tac! She jumped up and looked out, and there was the little old elf with five skeins of flax yarn on his arm.

"Here they are!" he said; and he gave them to her. "Now guess my name."

"Is it Bill?" she asked.

"No!" he said; and he twirled his tail.

"Is it Ned?" This was her second guess.

"No, it is not," he said; and he twirled his tail.

"Is it Mark?" This was her third guess.

"Ha! ha! not a bit of it," he said; and he twirled his tail very fast, and then flew away.

When the King came in, a little while after, there were the five skeins, all ready for him. "I see that you've saved your head this time," he said; "but to-morrow we will try it again."

Every day the flax was brought to her; and every morning and evening the elf came. Jane sat all day long trying to think of new names to say to him when he brought the skeins home in the evening. And as the days went by, the elf seemed to feel very happy, and he twirled his tail faster and faster every time she guessed.

The last day but one came. The elf brought the skeins at night, and when he gave them to her he laughed.

"Well, Jane," he said, "can't you guess my name to-night?"

"Is it Daniel?" she asked.

"No!" he said.

"Is it Zedekiah?"

"No! no!"

"Oh, then, is it Methusaleh?"

"No! no! no!"

The elf winked and grinned, and then said: "To-morrow is the last day. Did you know it?" He twirled his tail very fast, and flew away.

Jane sat down and thought she would cry. But just then she heard the King at the door, and she kept back her tears.

The King came in, and when he saw the five skeins he said: "It's all right, Jane. You've got the best man in the land, and he is proud of you. To-morrow you will spin the last of the skeins, and then you shall be free. I think I will eat my supper with you now."

So the servants brought in the supper and another stool for him, and the two sat down to eat.

The King had hardly eaten a mouthful, when he stopped and began to laugh; and he laughed so hard that his face got red, and Jane thought he would choke.

"What is it that makes you laugh so hard?" she said.

"I was thinking of something," he said, as soon as he could get his breath. "I was out in the woods to-day, and I saw the funniest thing you ever heard tell of. It was out close to the mountains where I had never been before. There was a deep pit among the rocks, and a little cave at the bottom on one side,—the queerest place you ever saw. As I was going past it I heard something say, 'Hum, hum, hum, hum,' and I wondered what it was. I went on tiptoe to the edge of the pit and peeped over; and what do you think I saw down there?"

"I'm sure I can't guess," said Jane.

"It was the queerest little black elf that you ever set your eyes on," said the King. "It was the kind that live in the mountains, you know, and that never let anybody see them. But the funny part of it was that he had a little spinning wheel down there, and he was spinning—hum, hum, hum, hum,—as fast as he could, and twirling his long tail just as fast as the wheel went round; and while he span, he sang the drollest little song:

And then the King fell back on his stool and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

As for Jane, she was so glad that she wanted to scream. But she was wiser now than when she ate those pies; so she laughed just as the King laughed, and did not say a word.

Next morning when the elf came for the flax, he was so proud and so full of spite that you would have been afraid of him. "This is the last time," he said, as Jane gave him the flax.

"Yes," said she, "and I am glad of it."

"I'll carry you off to-night," he said.

When night came, there he was, tapping at the window. Jane opened it, and he came right in.

Oh, how he did grin! and oh, oh, oh! how fast his long tail did twirl round! He gave her the skeins, and then he said, as cross as could be:

"What's my name?"

"Is it Solomon?" she said; and she made believe that she was afraid.

"Ha! ha! No, of course not," he said, and he hopped down and strutted round the room.

"Well, then, is it Alexander?" she asked; and now she was all in a tremble.

"He! he! he!" he cried; "I should think not!" And he reached out his arms towards her, and twirled his tail so fast that it looked like a ring of fire.

She took a step back, and looked straight into his queer little eyes. Then she pointed her finger at him, and said:

When the elf heard that, he just slunk away and flew out into the dark; and Jane never saw him again as long as she lived.