ey answered. "Hundreds and thousands of us live
under this mountain."

Karl noticed passages running in all directions, and low caves which
seemed to be dwellings, many of them richly ornamented and furnished. In
one of these caves he observed a looking-glass, and wondered which of
the dwarf men trimmed his beard before it. He met a great many little
men scurrying about, who cast anxious glances at the giant who had
strayed among them. Karl had frequently to stoop; the ceilings seemed
very low to him, although they were high enough compared to the dwarf
men.

"Where are the female dwarfs?" he asked abruptly.

"Dwarfs have no womenfolk," Mr Query replied. "We did away with them
long, long ago!"

"That was rather rough on them, eh?" said Karl.

"Well it happened so many centuries ago that we have forgotten all about
it, and so are unable to gratify your curiosity. Perhaps if you care for
antiquities and were to study the pictures on the walls, you might find
out."

"Not my line," said Karl shortly.

"As we have no women," Mr Query continued, "we never quarrel and have no
differences of opinion."

"I expect no lady would care to live down here with you in this dark
hole," said Karl, thoughtfully. "But to whom does the looking-glass
belong?"

"A fairy comes to visit us occasionally; she makes herself useful and
tidies up the place a bit for us," said the dwarf. "She's here
now--would you like to see her?"

"Of course I should," said Karl, his heart beating fast at the thought
of meeting a real fairy--perhaps she was a princess in disguise, and he
might be chosen to win her.

The dwarf drew back the curtain that hung before a beautifully furnished
cave, and there Karl saw a young girl who was busy dusting and arranging
handsome gold vases on a carved bracket. Even by the pale light of the
glow-worms and the lantern which he had not yet extinguished, he could
see that she was very beautiful. She had a mass of red-brown hair, that
waved in tiny curls about her forehead, and hazel eyes with dark
eyelashes. As to her figure, she was small and slight, so that she did
not look quite so monstrous in that little world as Karl did. She had a
big holland apron on, with a gaily embroidered border. When she saw
Karl, she laughed. "To think of meeting a young man in this old
hole--how funny," she exclaimed.

"Are you a fairy?" said Karl, bewildered by her beauty.

"Do I look like one?" she answered with a toss of her br