d, she patted him. 'I don't see anything,' she
said, 'only just lovely woods.'

"'Oh, Purity, come back, come back, we can't go any farther!' said the man,
and his eyes kept staring at something among the trees, close by.

"'What do you see?' asked the little girl.

"'A great red dragon with seven heads and ten horns!' answered the man, and
he pulled on her again, to go back with him.

"'Dear me,' said Purity, 'is that old make-believe thing ground here,
trying to cheat you? I've heard about it.'

"'It would make anybody afraid,' said the man. 'It has seven heads and it
could eat us up with any one of them.'

"'Yes, it could, if it was there,' said Purity, 'but there isn't any such
thing, to _be_ there. The King of the country is all-powerful and He knows
we're coming, and He _wants_ us to come. Hasn't He taken care of us all the
way and helped us over every hard place? Shouldn't you think you'd _know_
by this time that we're being taken care of?'

"'Oh, dear!' said the man, 'I shall never see the Heavenly Country, nor the
castle, nor know what true delight is; for no one could get by that
dragon!'

"Purity felt bad because his face was the sorriest that you ever saw, and
his voice sounded full of crying. So she put her arms around him. 'Now
don't you feel that way;' she said, 'everything is just as happy as it was
before. There isn't any dragon there. Tell me where you see him.'

"So the man pointed to the foot of a great tree close by.

"'All right,' said Purity, 'I'll go and stand right in front of that tree
until you get 'way out of the woods, and then I'll run and catch up with
you.'

"The man stooped down and put his arms around the girl just as lovingly as
if she was his own little grandchild.

"'I can't do that,' he said; 'I'd rather the dragon would eat me up than
you. You run, Purity, and I'll stay; and when he tries to catch you, I'll
throw myself in front of him. But kiss me once, dear, because we've been
very happy together.'

"Purity kissed him over and over again because she was so happy about his
goodness, and she saw the tears in his eyes, that are the kind that make
people see better. She _knew_ what the man was going to see when he stood
up again."

The story-teller paused a moment, but no one spoke, although she looked at
each one questioningly; so she continued:--

"Well, he was the most _surprised_ man when he got up and looked around.

"'The dragon has gone!' he said.

"'No, h