84 Fairy Tales

Hans trembled all over, but spoke no
- word, only held tight to his precious hair,
and thrust it into a little pocket which his
mother had sewn in his jacket. Then with
a good deal of effort he climbed up the side
of the basket, and watched; and as he did
this it comforted him to notice a grey-headed
old crow flying near, as if to give him heart.
So, thinking that when one has anything
disagreeable to do, it is well to do it at once,
he contrived to slip his hand round the great
neck, and to pull out another bristly hair.
But when this was accomplished he was
frightened. For the ogre gave a cry which
shook the snow off the trees, and in another
moment he had torn the boy out of the
basket, and was holding him up, and widen-
ing his huge cavern of a mouth, as if he
were making ready to swallow him. Hans
was so sick with terror that he shut his eyes.
But the next instant he opened them and
looked straight into the ogre’s face. The
ogre’s sad eyes looked back, and he hurriedly
dropped the boy again.into the basket. His