and closed the door behind him. He
would have descended the stairs then, but some one brushed against him
lightly and whispered, "Why do you waste your time in there?"

"I went in against my will," said the giant.

The stranger said in glad tones, "I know you well."

The giant replied, "My name is Will o'Dreams."

"Yes, yes," said the other. "My name is Will, too. Though certain
well-meaning persons have always preferred to refer to me as William.
I used to write plays, you know."

The giant gazed at him in the dim light. "Of course," he said.

"I used to live beside the Avon," said the other.

The giant's heart grew soft. "It is a beautiful stream," he said.
"And children play along its banks, just as in the old days, and men
and women passing that way are the happier because you once dwelt
there."

But the other held up a cautioning finger. His eyes twinkled
mischievously in the dim light. "Not so loud," he said. "Old Mr.
Literal will hear you--and you know he doesn't know I am here!"

They parted then; and the giant went back to his place where the
children lay asleep.

PART II

ARGUMENT: EVERYCHILD PITIES THE SORROWS OF CINDERELLA AND REJOICES IN
HER RELEASE FROM BONDAGE; HE ENCOUNTERS A DOG THAT LOOKS UPON HIM WITH
FAVOR.

CHAPTER VIII

A PURSUIT IN THE DARK

Everychild thought perhaps he had been asleep a long time when he was
awakened by the sound of a clock in a distant tower striking the hour
of 1. He became quite wide awake.

He looked to his right and to his left. Hansel and Grettel were on one
side of him, sleeping deeply. Hansel was even snoring. The giant, on
his other side, lay motionless.

He looked to see if the Masked Lady had remained near him, but she was
nowhere to be seen. Mr. Literal also had disappeared.

Then he sat up suddenly, his heart thumping loudly. There was the
sound of hurrying feet on the road nearby. And there was something
about the sound . . . you could tell that it was some one who was lost,
or in trouble. Presently there was a sound of weeping too.

Everychild sat with his hands clasped about his knees, staring at the
road: and before long, there she was--a girl running as if she were in
great peril. And as she drew nearer Everychild felt quite sure he knew
who the girl was. He could not be sure how he knew. But a name came
into his mind, and he said to himself, "It is Cinderella."

She raced past him as if she were a leaf ca