“If they can’t find a tall young man aboveground, then there isn’t any tall young man, and he must be short.” “Is that all?” exclaimed the Friendly Glowworm again. “No,” replied the Thoughtful Snail slowly. “I’ve thought of something else. All the real wizards are good friends of the Moon King, and there’s only one of the creatures of the forest that can change the shape of a man.” “You mean the Slippery Spider?” asked his friend. “Yes,” replied the Thoughtful Snail; “and I’ve been thinking that if the Slippery Spider has changed his shape, he has made him smaller than himself, of course, or else he would have got away long before this.” “That’s so,” exclaimed the Friendly Glowworm, beginning to be interested. “I think he is smaller than a spider and that the Slippery Spider has fastened him into some den. You know that he can spin a magic web. It can be cut from the outside, but if any one tries to cut it from the inside, it grows stronger.” “Then you think--” “I’ve been thinking,” the Thoughtful Snail interrupted; “and I think that if you will go with me to carry the torch, we will go to the Slippery Spider’s hole to-night when he is away watching his nets, and perhaps we shall find Silverboy.” That night the Thoughtful Snail and the Friendly Glowworm made their way to the lane of the Slippery Spider. The Friendly Glowworm crept under a dry leaf, and the Thoughtful Snail crouched in front of him so that the keen eyes of the Slippery Spider should see no ray of light. They watched him come out of his little lane and go away to look at his nets to see if some unwary traveler had not been caught in them; then they crept boldly in toward the den in the rock. The lane was so rough that more than once the Friendly Glowworm was tumbled from one side to the other, and so briery that the delicate horns of the Thoughtful Snail were scratched and torn; but on they went until at last they were in front of the Slippery Spider’s den. Behold, there was the magic web stretched across the opening, and thicker and stronger than was ever the web of a spider before. The Friendly Glowworm was so excited that he quivered like a jelly; and as for the Thoughtful Snail, his shell fairly rattled against the rock. It made such a noise that Silverboy called:-- “Who’s there?” “Who’s _there_?” cried the Thoughtful Snail gladly. “Are you Silverboy?” “Yes, who are you?” For answer the Thoughtful Snail pushed his whole weight against the web, while the Friendly Glowworm caught hold of it and pulled and tugged with all his might. It fell on the ground, and Silverboy stepped out, pale as pale, and so small that his new friends could hardly see him; but it was the real Silverboy himself. “Come quick,” said they, “before the Slippery Spider comes home.” [Illustration: SILVERBOY CALLED, “WHO’S THERE?”]