"Oho! I will not tell any one the place," chuckled Loki, "except that it is not far, in a little wood. There is a gnarled old apple-tree, and on its branches grow the most beautiful red-cheeked apples you ever saw. But you could never find it."
"I should like to see these apples, Loki, if only to prove how far less good they are than mine. Will you bring me some?"
"That I will not," said Loki teasingly. "Oh, no! I have my own magic apples now, and folk will be coming to me for help instead of to you."
Idun began to coax him, as he had guessed that she would: "Please, please, Loki, show me the place!"
At first he would not, for he was a sly fellow, and knew how to lead her on. At last, he pretended to yield.
"Well, then, because I love you, Idun, better than all the rest, I will show you the place, if you will come with me. But it must be a secret—no one must ever know."
All girls like secrets.
"Yes—yes!" cried Idun eagerly. "Let us steal away now, while no one is looking."
This was just what Loki hoped for.
"Bring your own apples," he said, "that we may compare them with mine. But I know mine are better."