The lad thanked the eagle for the help he had had, and then he put the feather in the lining of his hat.
After that the eagle went one way and the lad went the other, and that was towards the castle where the Grey Master lived.
Off he stepped right foot foremost, and by and by he came to a little stream of water that ran along through the meadow. But just in the middle of the brook lay a great stone, that choked the stream so that it could hardly crawl around it.
“Here is a body in trouble as well as myself,” said the lad, and he stooped and rolled away the great round stone so that the brook might flow smoothly and freely.
“One good turn deserves another,” said the brook. “Look in the place where the great round stone lay and you will find a little red pebble; so long as you keep that pebble in your mouth you will be as strong as ten common men.”
Well, the lad hunted until he found the pebble, and then he thanked the brook and jogged along the way he was going.
By and by he came to an apple-tree, and it was so loaded down with apples that the branches were bent to the very ground.
“Here is another body weighed down by the cares of the world,” said the lad. So he shook some of the apples off and cut props to put under the branches, that they might not be broken by the load.
“One good turn deserves another,” said the apple-tree. “Look under my roots and you will find a golden apple; while you keep that in your bosom neither fire nor water can harm you, for it is an apple from the tree of life.”
Well, the lad found the apple under the roots of the tree, and then he said “thank you,” and went on his way.