o summon every evil creature to his aid.

And on the third day after the declaration of war a mighty army was at
the command of the King Awgwa. There were three hundred Asiatic
Dragons, breathing fire that consumed everything it touched. These
hated mankind and all good spirits. And there were the three-eyed
Giants of Tatary, a host in themselves, who liked nothing better than
to fight. And next came the Black Demons from Patalonia, with great
spreading wings like those of a bat, which swept terror and misery
through the world as they beat upon the air. And joined to these were
the Goozzle-Goblins, with long talons as sharp as swords, with which
they clawed the flesh from their foes. Finally, every mountain Awgwa
in the world had come to participate in the great battle with the
immortals.

The King Awgwa looked around upon this vast army and his heart beat
high with wicked pride, for he believed he would surely triumph over
his gentle enemies, who had never before been known to fight. But the
Master Woodsman had not been idle. None of his people was used to
warfare, yet now that they were called upon to face the hosts of evil
they willingly prepared for the fray.

Ak had commanded them to assemble in the Laughing Valley, where Claus,
ignorant of the terrible battle that was to be waged on his account,
was quietly making his toys.

Soon the entire Valley, from hill to hill, was filled with the little
immortals. The Master Woodsman stood first, bearing a gleaming ax that
shone like burnished silver. Next came the Ryls, armed with sharp
thorns from bramblebushes. Then the Knooks, bearing the spears they
used when they were forced to prod their savage beasts into submission.
The Fairies, dressed in white gauze with rainbow-hued wings, bore
golden wands, and the Wood-nymphs, in their uniforms of oak-leaf green,
carried switches from ash trees as weapons.

Loud laughed the Awgwa King when he beheld the size and the arms of his
foes. To be sure the mighty ax of the Woodsman was to be dreaded, but
the sweet-faced Nymphs and pretty Fairies, the gentle Ryls and crooked
Knooks were such harmless folk that he almost felt shame at having
called such a terrible host to oppose them.

"Since these fools dare fight," he said to the leader of the Tatary
Giants, "I will overwhelm them with our evil powers!"

To begin the battle he poised a great stone in his left hand and cast
it full against the sturdy form of the Mas