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262 outwit them. They ran to the stone and put forth all their strength to turn it, but were unable. Then Little Bear's-Son went to the stone, lifted it and hurled it a verst away. Beneath it was a great dark hole, like the burrow of an enormous fox.

"Brothers," said Little Bear's-Son, "the witch is in this abyss. She is now our mortal enemy and if we do not kill her, she will drive us, one by one, out of the white world. Which of us shall follow her?"

The three giants, however, had tasted the Baba-Yaga's power and had no relish for attacking her under the ground. Dubynia hid behind Gorynia and Gorynia slunk behind Usynia and Usynia looked up at the blue sky as if he had not heard. "Well," said Little Bear's-Son, "it seems that I must be the one to go." He bade them, then, cut into strips the hides of the beasts they had trapped and killed, and to twist the strips into a long rope. He planted a great post in the ground, tied one end of the rope to this and threw the other end into the dark hole. "Now, little brothers," he said, "remain here and watch, one of you at a time. If ye see the rope quiver and shake, lay hold of it straightway and hoist me out."