g inland themselves, they sent parties of their men to explore,
and find out what they could of the inhabitants. The soldiers, who had
never heard anything about the giants, went off very full of glee, and
courage, thinking, from the miserable look of the country, that they had
only some poor half-starved, ignorant savages to hunt out, and subdue.

That was how they started out. They returned nearly scared to death,
rushing into camp like madmen, pursued by a troop of hideous monsters all
brandishing clubs as big as oak trees, and making the most awful noises
you can possibly imagine.

When, though, Brutus and Corineus saw these great creatures they were not
in the least frightened, for, you see, they had already heard about them.
So they quietly and quickly collected their army, reassured the terrified
men, and, before the giants knew what was happening, they marched upon
them, and assailed them vigorously with spears and darts.

The giants, who were really not at all brave men, were so frightened at
this attack, and at the pain caused by the arrows and spears,--weapons
they had never seen before,--that they very soon turned tail and ran for
their lives. They made direct for the Dartmoor hills, where they hoped to
find shelter and safe hiding-places, and indeed, all did manage to escape
except one, and that was the great Gogmagog, the captain, who was so badly
injured that he could not run.

When Gogmagog saw his cowardly companions all running away, and leaving
him to do the best he could for himself, he bellowed and bellowed with
rage and fear until the birds nearly dropped down from the sky with
fright. After a while, though, he began to think he had better stop
drawing attention to himself, and look about for a means of escape, and
this was no slight task, for he could scarcely move a step, and his great
big body was not at all easy to conceal. Indeed, the only means he could
see open to him was to lie down in one of the great ditches which lay here
and there all over the land, and trust to the darkness concealing him
until the soldiers had returned to camp.

Alas, though, for poor Gogmagog's plans, the moon was at the full, and
every place was almost as light as by day. The Trojan soldiers too were
so excited and pleased with their giant-hunting, that they could not bear
to give it up and return to camp until they had at least one giant to take
back as a trophy. So they prowled here, and prowled there, u