m.

The faggot-maker and his wife were charmed at having their children
once more with them, and their joy for this lasted till their money
was all spent; but then they found themselves quite as ill off as
before. So by degrees they again thought of leaving them in the
forest: and that the young ones might not come back a second time,
they said they would take them a great deal farther than they did at
first. They could not talk about this matter so slily but that
Hop-o'-my-thumb found means to hear all that passed between them; but
he cared very little about it, for he thought it would be easy for him
to do just the same as he had done before. But though he got up very
early the next morning to go to the river's side to get the pebbles, a
thing which he had not thought of hindered him; for he found that the
house-door was double-locked. Hop-o'-my-thumb was now quite at a loss
what to do; but soon after this, his mother gave each of the children
a piece of bread for breakfast, and then it came into his head that he
could make his share do as well as the pebbles, by dropping crumbs of
it all the way as he went. So he did not eat his piece, but put it
into his pocket.

It was not long before they all set out, and their parents took care
to lead them into the very thickest and darkest part of the forest.
They then slipped away by a by-path as before, and left the children
by themselves again. All this did not give Hop-o'-my-thumb any
concern, for he thought himself quite sure of getting back by means
of the crumbs that he had dropped by the way; but when he came to look
for them he found that not a crumb was left, for the birds had eaten
them all up.

The poor children were now sadly off, for the further they went the
harder it was for them to get out of the forest. At last night came
on, and the noise of the wind among the trees seemed to them like the
howling of wolves, so that every moment they thought they should be
eaten up. They hardly dared to speak a word, or to move a limb, for
fear. Soon after there came a heavy rain, which wetted them to the
very skin, and made the ground so slippery, that they fell down almost
at every step, and got dirty all over.

Before it was quite dark, Hop-o'-my-thumb climbed up to the top of a
tree, and looked round on all sides to see if he could find any way of
getting help. He saw a small light, like that of a candle, but it was
a very great way off, and beyond the forest. He the