Now it happened that Little Jacket was not altogether wrong in his
fancies about giants, for there _was_ a giant living in this
island where the poor sailors were wrecked. His name was Huggermugger,
and he and his giantess wife lived at the foot of the great cliffs
they had seen in the distance. Huggermugger was something of a farmer,
something of a hunter, and something of a fisherman. Now, it being a
warm, clear, moonlight night, and Huggermugger being disposed to roam
about, thought he would take a walk down to the beach to see if the
late storm had washed up any clams [Footnote: The "clam" is an
American bivalve shell-fish, so called from hiding itself in the sand.
A "clam chowder" is a very savory kind of thick soup, of which the
clam is a chief ingredient. I put in this note for the benefit of
little English boys and girls, if it should chance that this story
should find its way to their country.] or oysters, or other
shell-fish, of which he was very fond. Having gathered a good basket
full, he was about returning, when his eye fell upon the group of
great shells in which Little Jacket and his friends were reposing, all
sound asleep.
[Illustration: THE GIANT PICKS UP LITTLE JACKET'S BEDROOM.]
"Now," thought Huggermugger, "my wife has often asked me to fetch home
one of these big shells. She thinks it would look pretty on her
mantel-piece, with sunflowers sticking in it. Now I may as well
gratify her, though I can't exactly see the use of a shell without a
fish in it. Mrs. Huggermugger must see something in these shells that
I don't."
So he didn't stop to choose, but picked up the first one that came to
his hand, and put it in his basket. It was the very one in which
Little Jacket was asleep. The little sailor slept too soundly to know
that he was travelling, free of expense, across the country at a
railroad speed, in a carriage made of a giant's fish-basket.
Huggermugger reached his house, mounted his huge stairs, set down his
basket, and placed the big shell on the mantel-piece.
"Wife," says he, "here's one of those good-for-nothing big shells you
have often asked me to bring home."
"Oh, what a beauty," says she, as she stuck a sunflower in it, and
stood gazing at it in mute admiration. But, Huggermugger being hungry,
would not allow her to stand idle.
[Illustration: MRS. HUGGERMUGGER ADMIRES THE SHELL AND SUNFLOWER.]
"Come," says he, "let's have some of these beautiful clams cooked for
supper--they are worth all your fine shells with nothing in them."
So they sat down, and cooked and ate their supper, and then went to
bed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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