50 THE MAGIC OAK TREE

suddenly an enormous cobweb spread itself
before him, and quite prevented him from
going any nearer. It was not a common
cobweb, of course, such as spiders amuse
themselves by making, but it was to all ap-
pearances. woven of very, very thin network
of iron threads, or threads as strong as iron,
and which mortal hand could never break.
As soon as Hurly-Burly saw this, and even
before it had spread itself out between him
and the tree, he knew that it was the work
of an enemy, and that the time had come for
him to use the words and the means en-
joined upon him by the fairy. So, without
an instant’s hesitation, he shouted out at the
very top of his voice, ‘ High diddle diddle !’
and immediately ‘afterwards tumbled head
over heels, bursting, as he did so, through
the magic network as if it had been a real
cobweb, and rising on the other side with just
enough breath to utter the words, ‘ Never
say die!’ As soon as he had done so, a
low, plaintive wail rose from the tree, and
from the other side of it there hobbled round
into sight an old, old woman, dressed in a
modest grey cloak, and leaning on a crutch.
She was a sort of person whose appearance