84 THE WONDER-BOOK OP HORSES 



always carried with him — and he was proof 

 against all enchantments of that kind. He knew 

 at once that he had been entrapped in a magic 

 castle, and without heeding the wizard in the 

 least, he turned to his own book to learn from it 

 how he might escape. It was a kind of guide- 

 book to all the houses of enchantment in the 

 world, and he soon found the chapter that was 

 devoted to the air-castles of Spain. The direc- 

 tions were very plain : 



" How TO Foil the Enchanter and Set his 

 Prisoners Free. Raise the white stone slab that 

 lies beneath the doorway. The spirit that is pent 

 beneath will escape, and the palace will go up in 

 smoke." 



It was all very simple, certainly. Astolpho had 

 no trouble in finding the white stone, and he be- 

 gan prying it up with his spear. Atlantes, greatly 

 alarmed, cried out to the watchman to open the 

 gate and let the intruder go ; and in order to drive 

 him out he tried all the new enchantments that 

 he could think of. The guests, hearing the un- 

 wonted uproar, came crowding out to see what 

 new thing had been invented for their amuse- 

 ment. All wore curious colored glasses that the 



