Boys -- Juvenile fiction; Fantasy literature; Toys -- Juvenile fiction
Jimmieboy did as he was commanded, and found the pocket a very
comfortable place, only it was a little stuffy.
"It's pretty hot in here," he whispered.
"Well, look up on the left hand corner of the outer side of the pocket
and you'll find two flaps that are buttoned up," replied Bludgeonhead,
softly. "Unbutton them. One will let in all the air you want, and the
other will enable you to peep out and see Fortyforefoot without his
seeing you."
In a minute the buttons were found and the flaps opened. Everything
happened as Bludgeonhead said it would, and in a minute Jimmieboy,
peering out through the hole in the cloak, saw Fortyforefoot
approaching.
The owner of the beautiful valley seemed very angry when he caught sight
of Bludgeonhead sitting on his property, and hastening up to him, he
cried:
"What business have you here in the Valley of Fortyforefoot?"
Jimmieboy shrank back into one corner of the pocket, a little overcome
with fear. Fortyforefoot was larger and more terrible than he thought.
"I am not good at riddles," said Bludgeonhead, calmly. "That is at
riddles of that sort. If you had asked me the difference between a duck
and a garden rake I should have told you that a duck has no teeth and
can eat, while a rake has plenty of teeth and can't eat. But when you
ask me what business I have here I am forced to say that I can't say."
"You are a very bright sort of a giant," sneered Fortyforefoot.
"Yes," replied Bludgeonhead. "The fact is I can't help being bright. My
mother polishes me every morning with a damp chamois."
"Do you know to whom you are speaking?" asked Fortyforefoot,
threateningly.
"No; not having been introduced to you, I can't say I know you,"
returned Bludgeonhead. "But I think I can guess. You are Anklehigh, the
Dwarf."
At this Fortyforefoot turned purple with rage.
"Anklehigh the Dwarf?" he roared. "I'll right quickly teach thee a
lesson thou rash fellow."
Fortyforefoot strode up close to Bludgeonhead, whose size he could not
have guessed because Bludgeonhead had been sitting down all this time
and was pretty well covered over by his cloak.
[Illustration: BLUDGEONHEAD SHOWS JIMMIEBOY TO FORTYFOREFOOT. PAGE
174.]
[Blank Page]
"I'll take thee by thine ear and toss thee to the moon," he cried,
reaching out his hand to make good his word.
"Nonsense, Anklehigh," returned Bludgeonhead, calmly. "Don't be foolish.
No dwarf can fight with a giant of my size."
"But I am not the dwarf Anklehigh," shrieked Fortyforefoot. "I am
Fortyforefoot."
"And I am Bludgeonhead," returned the other, rising and towering way
above the owner of the valley.
"Mercy sakes!" cried Fortyforefoot, falling on his knees in abject
terror. "He'd make six of me! Pardon, O, Bludgeonhead. I did not know
you when I was so hasty as to offer to throw you to the moon. I thought
you were--er--that you were--er----"
"More easily thrown," suggested Bludgeonhead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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