So they went into the room, and while all the music of all the world was playing softly around them, the children told the Moon Lady about their little home in the far-away forest. They told her how much the father and the mother wanted a silver door, and how they had come out into the world to try to find one. They told her about the Wizard Squirrel who would help them if the All-Alone Axe would agree to spare the Ancient Oak; about the All-Alone Axe who would spare the Ancient Oak if the Gentle Giant would stop dragging away his trees; and then about the Gentle Giant who would stop dragging away the trees if only-- “What next?” the Moon Lady interrupted; “the Gentle Giant would stop dragging away the trees if what?” “If you would only marry him,” said Silverboy boldly. “Won’t you please marry him, for we do want to find a silver door so very, very much?” “What kind of giant is he?” the Moon Lady asked, trying to look very serious. “He’s the best giant in all the world, I just know he is,” declared Silverboy; and Silvergirl added, “He was so good to us. I’m sure you would love him. He said you told him you wouldn’t marry him, but you will, won’t you?” “Certainly,” replied the Moon Lady, “I’d just as soon as not. I meant to all the time, but I wanted to see whether he would come back and ask me again.” “Then I’ll go to the very top of the mountain and tie a lighted torch to the topmost bough of the tall pine tree, so he will know that you are willing to marry him,” cried Silverboy, and in a moment he would have been away had not the Moon Lady stopped him. “If the Gentle Giant wants me very much, he will come and get me,” she said. “But he’s afraid,” cried Silvergirl; “he said he was.” “Then he can’t have me,” declared the Moon Lady. “Then we can’t get the silver door,” said Silverboy soberly. “Why not?” asked the Moon Lady lightly. “Wandering about the world to find silver doors is not the thing for a girl, of course, but you can do it if you like. Silvergirl must stay here with me, but you may go out and search. There’s nothing to hinder your going straight up to the moon and choosing one for yourself. I’ve been there many a time. My brother is the King of the Moon.” “But how can I get there?” cried Silverboy. “Can I go to the top of a high, high mountain and leap upon the moon when it passes by?” “If that isn’t just like a boy!” cried the Moon Lady, with another of her merry laughs. “Silvergirl wouldn’t try to get there in any such foolish way, I know. Would you, Silvergirl?” “I believe I should try to go to the top of the tallest tree in the world,” replied Silvergirl, “and then, when the moonbeams touched it, I would beg them to carry me home with them.” “That’s much more sensible,” said the Moon Lady gravely; and she added with a little twinkle in her bright eyes, “If there wasn’t any other way, yours would be the best, but there’s one way that is better.” “What is it?” cried the children together.