Suddenly the giant drew in his breath, and sent it out again in a most tremendous snore. The sound was as loud and terrible to the kobolds as the roarings of a lion is to men. Those standing in front of the giant’s mouth were blown by his breath to the distance of a hundred yards, and fell, badly bruised. And then commenced a mad stampede. The dwarfs fairly tumbled over each other in their haste to get away, and they did not stop to take breath until they reached the friendly shelter of a field of mushrooms, fully a mile from the giant’s cave. Some of the very little ones finding their legs failing them, sprang upon the backs of butterflies, and bees, and made the rest of the journey in that fashion. The dwarfs were obliged to acknowledge that their expedition had failed; and they were so heartily ashamed of this attempt at warfare that they told Bron he might arrange the affair with the giants according to his best wisdom, and they would faithfully do as he bade them. Bron pondered over the matter for several days. He thought of a great many stratagems for conquering the giants, but dismissed them from his mind one after another. A giant was a very unwieldy object to manage. At last he made up his mind he would consult a very cunning fox, who lived near. [Illustration: THE FLIGHT OF THE KOBOLDS.] The fox said to him; “You know that turkeys roost on trees?” “Yes,” said Bron, wondering what that had to do with the matter. “And you know that foxes can’t climb trees?” “Yes.” “Did you never observe that I can get a turkey whenever I want one?” “Yes.” “Now, how do you suppose I get that turkey when it is high up on the tree, and I can’t climb to it?” “I never thought anything about it,” said Bron, “but it _is_ curious, now I do think of it.” “This is the way I do it. I walk round and round that tree. The silly turkey turns its head round and round to look after me. Pretty soon it gets dizzy, and falls off.” “I see,” said Bron. “Thank you.” He went at once to the dwarfs, and told them he had resolved to conquer the giant himself, in single combat. They tried to dissuade him, and told him he would never come out from that fight alive, and that the colony could not get along without him. It would be better to send word to king Rhine that the task he had assigned the dwarfs was too hard, and that they could not do it. But Bron said the honor of the kobolds was at stake, and he was resolved to fight Kruge. The king laughed when Bron made his proposition. He challenged the giant Kruge to single combat. If he succeeded in cutting off the forelock of the giant’s head; Kruge, and all the giants, were to be servants to the kobolds. If he failed to do this, the kobolds were to be servants to the giants. The giants laughed when they accepted the challenge. And all the Dryads, and Nixies, and Elves, and Sylphs, and Fairies laughed when they heard the news.