"Ha! Ha!" she cackled when she saw the Prince. "Another one that wants service with the Old Woman, eh?"
"Yes," said the Prince.
"You know the conditions?" the Old Woman said. "Guard my mare and her foal for three nights in succession and you may have any horse in my stable. But if she escapes you, then your head is mine and I'll stick it up there as a warning to other rash young men."
The Old Woman pointed to a high picket fence that surrounded the courtyard. On every picket but one there was a grinning human skull. The Prince looked and the only picket that had no skull called out:
"I want my skull, granny! I want my skull!"
The Old Woman gave a wicked laugh.
"You see," she said, "we were expecting you!"
When night fell the Prince led out the mare and her foal to a grassy meadow. To make sure that she would not escape him, he mounted her. Midnight came and he must have fallen asleep for suddenly he awoke to find himself astride a rail with an empty bridle in his hand. In despair he looked in all directions. At one end of the meadow was a pond.