Teddy then blew his whistle twice, loudly, and instantly the door opened, and he walked out. No one was in sight, so he obeyed the squirrel's instructions, and ran to the woods, where the squirrel joined him. He walked quite a long way with little "Red-tail" sitting on his shoulder, and at last arrived at a house, on the side of a steep hill. Here "Red-tail" got down from Teddy's shoulder, and hid in a tree. "I don't like Mamma Know-all," he said, "you can talk to her." So Teddy knocked at the door, and a funny, little old woman came out. Teddy told her his troubles, and she agreed to help him. "I've known for a long time how to kill the giants," she said, "but nobody has ever thought to ask me to help, and I can't think why they supposed a little boy like you could do it without me. I'm going to give you three oranges, which you must peel as you need them. The Looking-glass Sea is at the top of this hill, and the giants live on the other side of the Sea. Do not use the oranges unless you have to, and above all things, do not step on the peel." Teddy thanked her very much, took the oranges, and began promptly to climb the hill, where the squirrel was waiting for him. They soon reached the top, and before them, stretched the Looking-glass Sea. Directly opposite stood the gray castle belonging to the six giants. It had six enormous doors, six enormous windows, one over each door, and also six chimneys. It stood so close to the edge of the sea, that Teddy saw its reflection quite clearly, which made it seem twice its real size. He stared at the castle in hopeless despair. "They must be large giants," he said. "They are," answered the squirrel, "the very largest." "I suppose I'd better cross the sea," remarked Teddy. "I suppose you'd better _try_ to cross the sea," said the squirrel. So Teddy put one foot on the edge, then the other foot and then he took one step, and then he landed flat on his back with a most awful thump. This both surprised and hurt him, and he crawled on his hands and knees to the bank, feeling discouraged. "I think I had better peel an orange," he said, " I'll never be able to walk over." The squirrel agreed to this, and they did it together, being very careful to throw the peel behind them, so that they should not step on it. Just as they finished, the orange slipped from Teddy's hand, skipped off on the sea, and turned into a pair of beautiful big wheels, all nicely rubber tired, like bicycle wheels, and with a little seat swung in between them. Teddy was much delighted, and lost no time in taking the seat. The wheels instantly began to roll over the sea, and when he was very nearly across he saw to his horror, looming up on the opposite bank, a very large bright green Griffin, with a long scaly tail, and very big claws. The wheels seemed to be as frightened as Teddy, for they stopped short, and Teddy and the Griffin looked at each other. Finally the Griffin roared at him.