So he gets up, has his tea with her, and gives a lot of [[268]]money to the old lady, which says they have got a sister living from her three hundred miles. ‘And if you can get there, ten to one she will give you her advice to get safe. I will give you my favours, the bread out of my mouth, that is Hear-all, the dog. I will give you that dog with you.’
He gallops on, gallops on, till he gets benighted. He looks behind him on the way he was going; his horse was getting very tired; and he could see the Black Dog of the Wild Forest after him. And he gallops on till he comes to t’other sister’s house.
‘Well, come in,’ she says, ‘my king’s son from the North of Ireland. I know you aren’t very well.’
She puts him down into the ess-hole again, sir; and she had a little dog named Spring-all. If they fought hard the first night they fought fifteen times harder with Hear-all and Spring-all and th’ owd lady herself.
‘Well,’ she said, ‘my king’s son, I will do the best as ever I can for you. I will give you Spring-all, and I will give you the rod. Don’t forget what I tell you to do with this rod. You follow this ball of worsted. Now it will take you right straight to a river. You will see the Black Dog of the Wild Forest, and s’ever you get to this river, you hit this rod in the water, and a fine bridge will jump up. And when you get to t’other side, just hit the water, and the bridge will fall in again, and the Black Dog of the Wild Forest cannot get you.’
He got into another wild forest over the water, and he got romping and moping about the forest by himself till he got very wild. He got moping about, and he found he got to a castle. That was the king’s castle as he got over there to. He got to this castle, and the gentleman put him on to a job at this castle.
So he says to him, ‘Jack, are you ony good a-shooting?’
‘Yes, sir,’ he says, ‘I can shoot a little bit. I can shoot a long way further.’
‘Well, will you go out to-day, Jack, and we will have a shot or two in the forest?’
They killed several birds and wild varmints in the forest. So him being sweet upon a daughter at this big hall, her and Jack got very great together. Jack tuck her down to the river to show her what he could do with his rod, him [[269]]being laughing and joking with her. The king wanted a bridge made over the river, and he said there was no one as could do it.