inter. The sea froze, and then three
foxes came over here on the ice, and here they have been ever since.
Otherwise, there are no dangerous animals here on the island." "Oh, oh!
do foxes dare to attack such as you?" "Oh, no! not during the day; then
I can protect myself and mine," said the ram, shaking his horns. "But
they sneak upon us at night when we sleep in the grottoes. We try to
keep awake, but one must sleep some of the time; and then they come upon
us. They have already killed every sheep in the other grottoes, and
there were herds that were just as large as mine."

"It isn't pleasant to tell that we are so helpless," said the old ewe.
"We cannot help ourselves any better than if we were tame sheep." "Do
you think that they will come here to-night?" asked Akka. "There is
nothing else in store for us," answered the old ewe. "They were here
last night, and stole a lamb from us. They'll be sure to come again, as
long as there are any of us alive. This is what they have done in the
other places." "But if they are allowed to keep this up, you'll become
entirely exterminated," said Akka. "Oh! it won't be long before it is
all over with the sheep on Little Karl's Island," said the ewe.

Akka stood there hesitatingly. It was not pleasant, by any means, to
venture out in the storm again, and it wasn't good to remain in a house
where such guests were expected. When she had pondered a while, she
turned to Thumbietot. "I wonder if you will help us, as you have done so
many times before," said she. Yes, that he would like to do, he replied.
"It is a pity for you not to get any sleep!" said the wild goose, "but I
wonder if you are able to keep awake until the foxes come, and then to
awaken us, so we may fly away." The boy was so very glad of this--for
anything was better than to go out in the storm again--so he promised
to keep awake. He went down to the grotto opening, crawled in behind a
stone, that he might be shielded from the storm, and sat down to watch.

When the boy had been sitting there a while, the storm seemed to abate.
The sky grew clear, and the moonlight began to play on the waves. The
boy stepped to the opening to look out. The grotto was rather high up on
the mountain. A narrow path led to it. It was probably here that he must
await the foxes.

As yet he saw no foxes; but, on the other hand, there was something
which, for the moment, terrified him much more. On the land-strip below
the mountain stood some