Oh, yes! Boots thought that it might be done.
Very well; if he could befool the high-councillor so as to bring him to the castle the next morning against his will, Boots should have the princess and the half of the kingdom; if he did not do so he should have his beating.
Then Boots went away, and the king thought that he was rid of him now for good and all.
As for the high-councillor, he was not pleased with the matter at all, for he did not like the thought of being fooled by a clever rogue, and taken here and there against his will. So when he had come home, he armed all of his servants with blunderbusses, and then waited to give Boots a welcome when he should come.
But Boots was not going to fall into any such trap as that! No indeed! not he! The next morning he went quietly and bought a fine large meal-sack. Then he put a black wig over his beautiful red hair, so that no one might know him. After that he went to the place where the high-councillor lived, and when he had come there he crawled inside of the sack, and lay just beside the door of the house.
By and by came one of the maid servants to the door, and there lay the great meal-sack with somebody in it.
“Ach!” cried she, “who is there?”
But Boots only said, “Sh-h-h-h-h!”
Then the serving maid went back into the house, and told the high-councillor that one lay outside in a great meal-sack, and that all that he said was, “Sh-h-h-h-h!”