in sore trouble now, for with every step they strayed further,
and became more and more entangled in the forest. Night came on and a
terrific wind arose, which filled them with dreadful alarm. On every
side they seemed to hear nothing but the howling of wolves which were
coming to eat them up. They dared not speak or move.

In addition it began to rain so heavily that they were soaked to the
skin. At every step they tripped and fell on the wet ground, getting up
again covered with mud, not knowing what to do with their hands.

Little Tom Thumb climbed to the top of a tree, in an endeavour to see
something. Looking all about him he espied, far away on the other side
of the forest, a little light like that of a candle. He got down from
the tree, and was terribly disappointed to find that when he was on the
ground he could see nothing at all.

After they had walked some distance in the direction of the light,
however, he caught a glimpse of it again as they were nearing the edge
of the forest. At last they reached the house where the light was
burning, but not without much anxiety, for every time they had to go
down into a hollow they lost sight of it.

They knocked at the door, and a good dame opened to them. She asked them
what they wanted.

Little Tom Thumb explained that they were poor children who had lost
their way in the forest, and begged her, for pity's sake, to give them a
night's lodging.

Noticing what bonny children they all were, the woman began to cry.

'Alas, my poor little dears!' she said; 'you do not know the place you
have come to! Have you not heard that this is the house of an ogre who
eats little children?'

'Alas, madam!' answered little Tom Thumb, trembling like all the rest of
his brothers, 'what shall we do? One thing is very certain: if you do
not take us in, the wolves of the forest will devour us this very night,
and that being so we should prefer to be eaten by your husband. Perhaps
he may take pity on us, if you will plead for us.'

The ogre's wife, thinking she might be able to hide them from her
husband till the next morning, allowed them to come in, and put them to
warm near a huge fire, where a whole sheep was cooking on the spit for
the ogre's supper.

Just as they were beginning to get warm they heard two or three great
bangs at the door. The ogre had returned. His wife hid them quickly
under the bed and ran to open the door.

The first thing the ogre did was to ask wheth