------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER VII "KIMBO, THE GIANT" "The Queen of the Dolls!" cried all the children with delight. "My, how I should like to meet her!" exclaimed one flaxen-haired little maiden, who formed a part of the circle. The little girl beside the Vagabond declared she would have her mamma write to the Queen that night and ask Santa Claus to take the letter to her the next time he came around. There was a loud outburst of merry laughter that was joined in by His Highness the Vagabond himself. The mirth soon subsided, and before they had hardly time to engage in much general talk about the "Queen of the Dolls," five of the boys came hurrying from the well, bearing the old oaken bucket, dripping and cool. When the general thirst was quenched, the Vagabond cast a smile upon the upturned face of his sweet little friend, who so honored his side by her presence, as he thus went on with his tale. "The white-winged dove had scarcely passed out of sight before the two children beheld a strange object moving up and down along the distant horizon; and so rapid was its approach that it was not long before they could distinguish the outlines of a gigantic personage. "He seemed to be leaping over great fields, fully a mile at a stride, in his frantic effort to get to the throne. Turning to watch the approaching figure, the Queen cried aloud: "'Oh, children, look quickly! Kimbo the Giant is coming with all his might!' Illustration: _"He seemed to be leaping over great fields fully a mile at a stride."_ "And before the amazed children could say a word, the wondrous Kimbo cleared the factories of Santa Claus and Taffy River with a mighty bound, and in another instant stood before them. "The giant was so tall that his ponderous chin was level with the floor of the golden throne; and you can well imagine their surprise, not a little of which was tinged with fear, when they saw his massive features. "The children sank back in affright; but when the Queen assured them that the Giant was as kind as any doll down in the village, they ventured to turn with a shudder and look into his partly opened mouth. It appeared to them like a hole in the mountain near Harpers Ferry where the people once dug out coal. "As he uttered a few words of respect to the Queen, accompanied with a low bow, the sound which came from his partly opened lips was like the deep, growling rumble of distant thunder and shook the very throne on which they were standing. "His eyes were larger than saucers; and the great veins in his glaring eye-balls seemed like blood-red cords swollen and ready to burst. His ears, each ornamented with an earring as big as a wagon-tire, were as long as Maud's little arm; and never a pumpkin grew longer or larger than Kimbo's great nose.