"Very well," said Boots; "it's all one to me. I can go alone."
Now, when the two brothers came to the hill of glass, the knights and
princes were all hard at it, riding their horses till they were all in a
foam; but it was no good; for as soon as ever the horses set foot on the
hill, down they slipped, and there wasn't one who could get a yard or
two up; and no wonder, for the hill was as smooth as a sheet of glass,
and as steep as a house-wall. But all were eager to have the Princess
and half the kingdom. So they rode and slipped, and slipped and rode,
and still it was the same story over again. At last all their horses
were so weary that they could scarce lift a leg, and so the knights had
to give up trying any more.
The king was just thinking that he would proclaim a new trial for the
next day, to see if they would have better luck, when all at once a
knight came riding up on so brave a steed, that no one had ever seen the
like of it in his born days, and the knight had a mail of brass, and the
horse a brass bit in his mouth, so bright that the sunbeams shone from
it. Then all the others called out to him that he might just as well
spare himself the trouble of riding at the hill, for it would lead to no
good; but he gave no heed to them, and put his horse at the hill, and
went up it for a good way, about a third of the height; and when he had
got so far, he turned his horse round and rode down again.
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