St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-08-02

|
After he had drunk one canful he had
an idea. He saw that it would take
| a long time to drink the flowing
stream dry; the gold, if there were
any, must be right a the spot where
| he had rested and where the voice
| had addressed him. Then he built a
wall above in the stream and one be-
low, and midway between them,
Pierre saw, to his delight, his acorn
cap rested. The water was now
bailed out in earnest, one canful at
ter another being drained by the gil
ant, until soon the bottom of the
stream was seen, thick with white
pebbles and rocks, and among them
Law Pierre's cap, full of water.
1t was now Pierre's hope that the
giant would go away and leave him
TO secure his cap, but Drinkwater
saw it also and picking it up exam
ined it closely. He poured the water
out and dried the cap on handker-
chief as big as a tablecloth. He
seemed to have forgotten all about
the gold, for he put the cap on his
thumb and held it high in the air.
He stood right under Pierre's tree
and the little fellow could have
touched his hand. His first thought
was that the giant had seen and was
trying to catch him; but as his i'm
mense arm remained motionless in
the air, Pierre concluded that he III
tended only to restore to him his
property, so he reached over and
lifted the cap very carefully off the
big thumb, saying as he did so:
Thank you, giant Drinkwater.'
The mysterious voice, together
with the disappearance of the acorn
cap, frightened the giant, and he
started off at swift pace, crushing
the young trees as he ran.
When the giant had disappeared
Pierre came down from the tree and
resumed his journey. After a while
he came to an immense castle. The
towers of this castle were so tall
that they seemed to pierce the sky;
the windows were of great size, while
the doors looked as if they had been
built fer the entrance OF giants.
From within came sounds like the
rumbling of thunder.
Pierre surveyed the structure with
much interest, and soon became
aware that a huge pair of eyes were
watching him from all upper Win
dow. Surprised, he turned to flee,
but before he had taken three steps
long arm stretched from the window
where the eyes watched and caught
him, and despite his struggles to es-
cape, held him fast. He was then
drawn back into a large hall and
h, L, L.
captOr, the giant Drink water! There
were six other giants playing at ten
pins with cannon balls at the farther
end of the hall and making the noise
that Pierre had heard.
"Ho, no! what have we here?"
roared the giant, holding the little
fellow up before him.
All the other giants left their game
and crowded around the giant and
his prisoner.
Now we shall have a fine sauce
for our supper" they roared in cho-
rus. Pierre had been released from
the smothering grasp of giant Drink
water and now stood upon the floor
gazing with alarm at the hungry
faces about him.
In an instant he had formed a plan;
he began to whistle for dear life;
The giants listened wonderingly and
showed their admira ton of the ex-
quisite music by smiling and nodding
to each other. When Pierre had fin
ished they testified their apprecia-
ton of his performance by applaud
ing so loud that it threatened to
crack the glass in the windows.
This is new kind of bird" cried
the giant Drinkwater.
A golden cage was brought and
Pierre placed within it. Then seeing
that he was not shaped like other
birds they put in little wooden
bench covered with goatskin for him
to sit on and also made hammock
out of a piece of bears fur and swung
it between the bars Of the cage for a
bed.
All the time tina t he had been under
the giants roof the little fellow had
not dared to speak, fearing that the
giants might harm him if they found
out that he was a little boy and not
"a new kind of bird" He longed to
hear the sound Of his own voice again
and to continue his search for his
parents.
One of the giants had been in the
habit lately of returning home near
midnight, filled with wine, and, hav-
ing no light to guide his footsteps
for the chief giant ordered all lights
put out at 10 o'clock-would often
fall over chair or table and smash
it into bits. From the shelf on the
wall where his cage sat Pierre could
hear the giant tumbiing about, and
from this he got his idea how to es-
cape.
One night, after the tipsy giant had
Left the castle Pierre by SIGNS made