"Dig without stopping," was his command. "Dig till you come to the fairy palace."
A great company of men was soon at work. The air rang with the noise of their spades striking against the rocks and earth.
When night came they had made a tunnel into the very heart of the hill. They went home to rest, and with the first light of morning they came back to go on with their work.
But, behold! The hill looked as though no man had touched it. The dirt had all been replaced at the order of the powerful fairy king, Finvarra.
The young lord did not give up hope, however. The men were set to work again, and again the same thing happened as before. The work of the day was undone the next night. A third time the lord tried, and a third time he failed.
He was overcome by sorrow and disappointment, when he heard a soft voice speaking somewhere near him. It said:
"If you sprinkle salt over the earth the men dig up, Finvarra will have no power over it."
Once more the young lord was filled with hope. He sent out into the land in every direction to get quantities of salt from the people. And when the workmen stopped digging at nightfall, the salt was plentifully sprinkled over the earth.
How anxious the young lord was now! Had he really found a way of defeating the fairies? The next morning he eagerly hurried to the hill to see.