The Blue-Haired Ogre 89

“Oh, you brave boy,” he said, “how can
I thank you? You are the only one that has
dared pull out the three hairs, and you don’t
know how afraid I was that you would run
away like the rest of them.”

“But,” said Hans, sitting up with his blue
eyes as round as saucers, “I don’t understand
one bit. Are you the ogre? What has
become of the horrid part of you, and why,
if you are glad, did you try to prevent me
from pulling out the hairs?”

“That was my punishment,” said the
prince. ‘“I was obliged against my will
to frighten any one who was likely to break
the spell. Before you came all the people
who wanted to be rich just to please them-
selves, thought that after all they would
rather have their lives, and so, sooner or
later, they dropped out of the basket and
ran away into the wood, and there was an
end of it.”

“That was the hare’s advice,” said Hans.

“Don’t let us talk about it,” said the
prince, shuddering. ‘“ No one can ever know