8 THE FAIRY-FOLK OF THE BLUE HILL.

fire below. At this, the gnomes laughed with
glee and danced about exultantly, King Rondo,
all the time, stirring the fire with his golden
sceptre.

By this time, the giant cook’s slumber be-
came lighter, and he began to move about
restlessly in his sleep, as many sound sleepers
do when about to wake. He gave such a sud-
den yawn that the dwarf king jumped back
from the fire in haste, and his subjects ran off
with great speed.

The giant opened his eyes at the moment
when the peaked cap of the dwarf king was
disappearing behind a clump of bushes, and
he started up with a presentiment that some-
thing was wrong, for the dwarfs’ visits never
boded good to the giants.

At once, the giant’s eyes fell on the kettle
with the porridge running over its sides, and
he became sensible of a decidedly burnt odor.
With much trepidation, the giant caught up a
_ large stick, in fact, it was the trunk of a large
pine-tree, and scattered the blazing embers
from under the kettle. Then he seized the
huge spoon and hastily scooped up as much of
the porridge as he could, not realizing that he