Adela Cathcart, Volume 3. George MacDonald
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lakes, trees, and animals. And all above them was the clear heaven, and Mount Skycrack rising into it, with its endless ladders of spiderwebs, glittering like cords made of moonbeams. And up the moonbeams went, crawling, and scrambling, and racing, a huge army of huge spiders.
"At length they reached all but the very summit, where they stopped. Tricksey-Wee and Buffy-Bob could see above them a great globe of feathers, that finished off the mountain like an ornamental knob.
"'How shall we drive her off?' said Buffy.
"'We'll soon manage that,' said the grandfather spider. 'Come on, you, down there.'
"Up rushed the whole army, past the children, over the edge of the nest, on to the she-eagle, and buried themselves in her feathers. In a moment she became very restless, and went picking about with her beak. All at once she spread out her wings, with a sound like a whirlwind, and flew off to bathe in the sea; and then the spiders began to drop from her in all directions on their gossamer wings. The children had to hold fast to keep the wind of the eagle's flight from blowing them off. As soon as it was over, they looked into the nest, and there lay the giant's heart—an awful and ugly thing.
"'Make haste, child!' said Tricksey's spider. So Tricksey took her bag, and squeezed a drop out of it upon the heart. She thought she heard the giant give a far-off roar of pain, and she nearly fell from her seat with terror. The heart instantly began to shrink. It shrunk and shrivelled till it was nearly gone; and Buffy-Bob caught it up and put it into the bag. Then the two spiders turned and went down again as fast as they could. Before they got to the bottom, they heard the shrieks of the she-eagle over the loss of her egg; but the spiders told them not to be alarmed, for her eyes were too big to see them. By the time they reached the foot of the mountain, all the spiders had got home, and were busy again catching flies, as if nothing had happened. So the children, after renewed thanks to their friends, set off, carrying the giant's heart with them.
"'If you should find it at all troublesome, just give it a little more spider-juice directly,' said the grandfather, as they took their leave.
"Now, the giant had given an awful roar of pain, the moment they anointed his heart, and had fallen down in a fit, in which he lay so long that all the boys might have escaped if they had not been so fat. One did—and got home in safety. For days the giant was unable to speak. The first words he uttered were,
"'Oh, my heart! my heart!'
"'Your heart is safe enough, dear Thunderthump,' said his wife. 'Really a man of your size ought not to be so nervous and apprehensive. I am ashamed of you.'
"'You have no heart, Doodlem,' answered he. 'I assure you that this moment mine is in the greatest danger. It has fallen into the hands of foes, though who they are I cannot tell.'
"Here he fainted again; for Tricksey-Wee, finding the heart begin to swell a little, had given it the least touch of spider-juice.
"Again he recovered, and said:
"'Dear Doodlem, my heart is coming back to me. It is coming nearer and nearer.'
"After lying silent for a few hours, he exclaimed:
"'It is in the house, I know!' And he jumped up and walked about, looking in every corner.
"Just then, Tricksey-Wee and Buffy-Bob came out of the hole in the tree-root, and through the cat-hole in the door, and walked boldly towards the giant. Both kept their eyes busy watching him. Led by the love of his own heart, the giant soon spied them, and staggered furiously towards them.
"'I will eat you, you vermin!' he cried. 'Give me my heart.'
"Tricksey gave the heart a sharp pinch; when down fell the giant on his knees, blubbering, and crying, and begging for his heart.
"'You shall have it, if you behave yourself properly,' said Tricksey.
"'What do you want me to do?' asked he, whimpering.
"'To take all those boys and girls, and carry them home at once.'
"'I'm not able; I'm too ill.'
"'Take them up directly.'
"'I can't, till you give me my heart.'
"'Very well!' said Tricksey; and she gave the heart another pinch.
"The giant jumped to his feet, and catching up all the children, thrust some into his waistcoat pockets, some into his breast-pocket, put two or three into his hat, and took a bundle of them under each arm. Then he staggered to the door. All this time poor Doodlem was sitting in her armchair, crying, and mending a white stocking.
"The giant led the way to the borders. He could not go fast, so that Buffy and Tricksey managed to keep up with him. When they reached the borders, they thought it would be safer to let the children find their own way home. So they told him to set them down. He obeyed.
"'Have you put them all down, Mr. Thunderthump?' asked. Tricksey-Wee.
"'Yes,' said the giant.
"'That's a lie!' squeaked a little voice; and out came a head from his waistcoat-pocket.
"Tricksey-Wee pinched the heart till the giant roared with pain.
"'You're not a gentleman. You tell stories,' she said.
"'He was the thinnest of the lot,' said Thunderthump, crying.
"'Are you all there now, children?' asked Tricksey.
"'Yes, ma'am,' said they, after counting themselves very carefully, and with some difficulty; for they were all stupid children.
"'Now,' said Tricksey-Wee to the giant, 'will you promise to carry off no more children, and never to eat a child again all you life?'
"'Yes, yes! I promise,' answered Thunderthump, sobbing.
"'And you will never cross the borders of Giantland?'
"'Never.'
"'And you shall never again wear white stockings on a Sunday, all your life long.—Do you promise?'
"The giant hesitated at this, and began to expostulate; but Tricksey-Wee, believing it would be good for his morals, insisted; and the giant promised.
"Then she required of him, that, when she gave him back his heart, he should give it to his wife to take care of for him for ever after. The poor giant feel on his knees and began again to beg. But Tricksey-Wee giving the heart a slight pinch, he bawled out:
"'Yes, yes! Doodlem shall have it, I swear. Only she must not put it in the flour-barrel, or in the dust-hole.'
"'Certainly not. Make your own bargain with her.—And you promise not to interfere with my brother and me, or to take any revenge for what we have done?'
"'Yes, yes, my dear children; I promise everything. Do, pray, make haste and give me back my poor heart.'
"'Wait there, then, till I bring it to you.'
"'Yes, yes. Only make haste, for I feel very faint.'
"Tricksey-Wee began to undo the mouth of the bag. But Buffy-Bob, who had got very knowing on his travels, took out his knife with the pretence of cutting the string; but, in reality, to be prepared for any emergency.
"No sooner was the heart out of the bag, than it expanded to the size of a bullock; and the giant, with a yell of rage and vengeance, rushed on the two children, who had stepped sideways from the terrible heart. But Buffy-Bob was too quick for Thunderthump. He sprang to the heart, and buried his knife in it, up to the hilt. A fountain of blood spouted from it; and with a dreadful groan, the giant fell dead at the feet of little Tricksey-Wee, who could not help being sorry for him after all."
"Silly thing!" said a little wisehead.
"What a horrid story!" said one small girl with great eyes, who sat staring into the fire.
"I don't think it at all a nice story for supper, with those horrid spiders, too," said an older girl.
"Well, let us have a game and forget it," I said.
"No; that we shan't, I am sure," said one.
"I will tell our Amy. Won't it be fun?"
"She'll