aten every crumb!

Then what to do! They wandered hither, thither,
For hours in dread and fear,
Until at last they saw, with fitful glimmer,
A feeble light appear.

It shone but faintly, like a single candle,
But, trudging towards the ray,
They reached a house and knocked; the door was opened
After a brief delay,

And a kind woman asked them what they wanted.
They said: "To stay all night."
"Run, run away! The faster you run the better!"
She answered in affright.

"An Ogre lives here, cruel and bloody minded!
He eats up little boys!
Run, run! I hear him coming from the mountains,
I know him by the noise!"

"But we can't run, we are so faint and tired!"
Hop-o'-my-Thumb began--
"'Tis all the same whether the wolves shall eat us,
Or your good gentleman."

And so she took them in, fed them, and hid them
All underneath her bed;
And in a minute more they heard approaching,
Tramp! tramp! an awful tread!

It was the Ogre coming home; his supper
Was steaming nice and hot,--
Two calves upon a spit, ten rabbits roasting,
A whole sheep in the pot.

He banged the door wide open, sniffed and snorted,
Then, in a dreadful voice,
Roared out, while his poor wife stood by and trembled,
"I smell seven little boys!"

In vain she told him 'twas the mutton scorching;
The veal had browned too fast;
He searched the house, peering around and under,
And reached the bed at last,

Then dragged them one by one out, fairly shouting
At little Hop-o'my-Thumb,
Saying the lads would make, towards a dinner,
Six mouthfuls and one crumb.

"O, leave them till to-morrow!" cried the woman;
"You've meat enough to-night."
"Well, so I have," he said, "I'll wait a little.
Ah! ugh! they're plump and white."

Now it so chanced the Ogre had seven daughters,
And all slept in one bed,
In a large room, and each wore for a nightcap
A gold crown on her head.

And Hop-o'-my-Thumb, when all the house was quiet,
Into their chamber crept,
And the gold head-bands for himself and brothers
Stole from them while they slept.

Wicked and sly it was; he knew the Ogre
Would, no doub