things, and she thought she would
be able to hide them from her husband for one night. She took them in,
gave them food, and let them warm themselves by the fire.

Very soon there came a loud knocking at the door. It was the ogre come
home. His wife hid the children under the bed, and then hurried to let
her husband in.

No sooner had the ogre entered than he began to sniff this way and
that. "I smell flesh," he said, looking round the room.

"It must be the calf which has just been killed," said his wife.

"I smell child's flesh, I tell you!" cried the ogre, and he suddenly
made a dive under the bed, and drew out the children one by one.

[Illustration]

"Oh, ho, madam!" said he; "so you thought to cheat me, did you? But,
really, this is very lucky! I have invited three ogres to dinner
to-morrow; these brats will make a nice dish."

He fetched a huge knife and began sharpening it, while the poor boys
fell on their knees and begged for mercy. But their prayers and
entreaties were useless. The ogre seized one of the children and was
just about to kill him, when his wife said--

"What in the world makes you take the trouble of killing them to-night?
Why don't you leave them till the morning? There will be plenty of time,
and they will be much fresher."

"That is very true," said the ogre, throwing down the knife. "Give them
a good supper, so that they may not get lean, and send them to bed."

[Illustration]

Now, the ogre had seven young daughters, who were all about the same age
as Tom Thumb and his brothers. These young ogresses all slept together
in one large bed, and every one of them had a crown of gold on her head.
There was another bed of the same size in the room, and in this the
ogre's wife, having provided them all with nightcaps, put the seven
little boys.

[Illustration]

But Tom Thumb was afraid that the ogre might change his mind in the
night, and kill him and his brothers while they were asleep. So he crept
softly out of bed, took off his brothers' nightcaps and his own, and
stole over to the bed where the young ogresses lay. He drew off their
crowns very gently, and put the nightcaps on their heads instead. Then
he put the crowns on his brothers' heads and his own, and got into bed
again.

[Illustration]

In the middle of the night the ogre woke up, and began to be sorry that
he had put off killing the boys until the morning.

"Never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day," he s