“I can draw a bow that would drive an archer to despair,” he explained. “I never weary. I can go on and on till they drop. I am all hands and arms.” He stopped and looked up at us. The same smile covered his face, only now he opened his lips far enough to show us a line of ugly twisted teeth. “Can you shoot?” he then demanded with a sudden burst. “A little,” we stammered, “—but not like you, I am sure.” He cackled again. “A little is enough,” he said. “Come!” He spun on his heel and went over to where we had first seen the bows suspended on the wall. “Take this,” he said to Charles. “—and you take this. There’ll be a merry time in the woods before the setting of the sun.” With that he handed each of us a bow and a quiver of finely made arrows. As though he were the leader of an army, he marched proudly to the door. He swung it open and with a bow stood like a soldier at attention till we filed out. We were once more among the rocks and stones—and the trees of the forest. It was light, but the rays of the sun shone only here and there in long threads where the breeze for a time drove the branches apart. We went on stealthily. We kept our bodies low so that if a chance shot were fired at us, it might pass over our heads. I got as far as the row of boulders that, I have said, was like an irregular stone wall. I was on the verge of straightening myself to look further into the woods when an arrow sang past me and struck with a click against the cave. In the next moment a shriek echoed through the woods. Far off in the shadows of the trees I saw, faintly, of course, a man throw his arms into the air and pitch forward on his face. Before I could recover from my astonishment another ran to lift him to his feet. He had hardly stooped when a shaft easily a yard long pierced his side and he, too, fell forward over his companion. For a second I was set wondering. I looked around to see if the Dwarf was at our backs. He was nowhere to be seen. Then I was certain that he had gone out among the trees. It was he who had shot the men who were lying there on the ground. I heard a branch over my head crack and saw it bend. A form twisted itself around and dropped quickly to the earth. Before I could wink, the Dwarf was standing between us with the grin stretching from ear to ear. His face was glowing with excitement. “Did you see them fall?” he cried, and took me by the coat. “Could an archer have reached them at that distance?” “I never thought that an arrow could carry so far,” said Charles. The Dwarf bent over and clapped himself on the knee. “—and neither it did!” he exclaimed. “The arrows I shot didn’t travel a hundred feet. I was up there in the trees—almost over their heads. I shot down upon them. These arms did that—these strong arms of mine!” I understood. “You mean that you climbed from one tree to the other?” I asked. “You worked your way from branch to——?”