TWILIGHT LAND

as clear as crystal, and he knew the Demon would come
the next morning for another task to do.

That night he slept little or none, and when the seventh
hour of the morning came the castle began to rock and
tremble, and there stood the Demon, and his hair bristled
and his eyes shone like sparks of fire. ‘ What hast thou
for me to do?” said he, and the poor Tailor could do
nothing but look at him with a face as white as dough.

“What hast thou for me to do?” said the Demon
again, and then at last the Tailor found his wits and his
tongue from sheer terror. ‘‘Look!” said he, “at the
great mountain over yonder ; remove it, and make in its
place a level plain with fields and orchards and gardens.”
And he thought to himself when he had spoken, ‘‘ Surely,
even the Demon cannot do that.”

“It shall be done,” said the Demon, and, so saying, he
stamped his heel upon the ground. Instantly the earth
began to tremble and quake, and there came a great rum-
bling like the sound of thunder. A cloud of darkness
gathered in the sky, until at last all was as black as the
blackest midnight. Then came a roaring and a cracking
and a crashing, such as man never heard before. All day
it continued, until the time of the setting of the sun, when
suddenly the uproar ceased, and the darkness cleared
away ; and when the Tailor looked out of the window the
mountain was gone, and in its place were fields and
orchards and gardens.

It was very beautiful to see, but when the Tailor beheld
it his knees began to smite together, and the sweat ran
down his face in streams. All that night he walked up
and down and up and down, but he could not think of one
other task for the Demon to do.

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