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"you shall have your dress very soon." Then he took the piece of linen out of his pocket and offered it to her in the darkness. She seized it hastily, and was going away. "Wait one moment," he said; "can I not help you in any way?"

"You could only help me," she replied, "by climbing the glass mountain and freeing me from the witch's power. But you could not reach the mountain; or even if you did, you would be unable to climb to the top."

"What I wish to do, I can do," said the drummer. "I feel great compassion for you, and I fear nothing; but I do not know where the mountain is, nor the way to it."

"The road lies through a large forest," she replied, "and you must pass several inns on your way. More than this I dare not tell you."

Then he heard the rush of wings, and she was gone. By the break of day the drummer was up and ready. He hung his drum on his shoulder and started without fear to cross the forest. After walking for some time and not meeting any giants, he thought to himself, "I must wake up the lazy sleepers." So he turned his drum before him and played such a tantara that the birds on the trees flew away screaming.

Not long after, a giant who had been sleeping in the grass rose up and stood before him. He was as tall as a fir tree, and cried out to the drummer:

"You wretched little creature! what do you mean by waking people up out of their best sleep with your horrid drum?"

"I drummed to wake you," he replied, "because I did not know the way."

"What do you want here in my wood?" asked the

giant.

“Well, I wish to free the forest from such monsters as you are!"

"Oho!" cried the giant; "why, I could crush you beneath my foot as I would crush an ant!"

"Don't suppose you are going to do any such thing!" cried the drummer. "If you were to stoop down to catch hold of one of us he would jump away and hide himself, and when you were lying down to sleep his people would come from every bush and thicket, each carrying a steel hammer in his girdle. They would creep cautiously upon you, and soon with their hammers beat out your brains!"

This assertion made the giant rather uneasy. "If I meddle with these cunning little people," he thought, "they can, no doubt, do me some mischief. I can easily strangle wolves and bears, but I cannot defend myself against these earthworms."

"Listen, little man," he said. "I pledge myself that you and your companions shall for the future be left in peace. And now tell me what you wish, for I am quite ready to do your pleasure.”

"You have long legs," said the drummer, "so that you can run more swiftly than I can. Carry me to the glass mountain, and I will take that as a proof of your kind feeling toward us, and my people shall leave you in peace.'

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"Come here, worm," said the giant; "seat yourself on my shoulders, and I will carry you wherever you wish."

The giant then lifted him up, and the drummer soon began to play away on his drum to his heart's content. The giant was quite satisfied; he thought

this would be a sign to the rest of the little people that he was friendly to them.

After a while a second giant made his appearance, and he took the drummer from the first and stuck him in the buttonhole of his coat. The drummer seized the button, which was as large as a dish, and holding fast by it, looked about him quite contentedly. Presently came a third, who took him from the buttonhole and placed him on the brim of his hat, from which elevation he could look over the tree tops.

All at once, in the blue distance, he espied a mountain. "Ah!" thought he, "that is certainly the glass mountain"; and so it was.

The giant, after a few more steps, reached the foot of the mountain, and then he lifted the drummer from his hat and placed him on the ground. The little man wished to be carried to the top of the mountain; but the giant shook his head, murmured something in his beard, and went back to the wood.

There stood the poor little drummer at the foot of the mountain, which looked as high above him as if three mountains had been placed one upon another. The sides were as slippery as a mirror, and there seemed no possible means of reaching the top. He began to climb, but he slid backward at every step. "If I were a bird, now," he said to himself; but it was only half a wish, and no wings grew.

While he thus stood, not knowing how to help himself, he saw at a little distance two men struggling together. He went up to them and found that they were quarreling about a saddle which lay on the ground between them, and which each wished to have.

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THE DRUMMER ON THE BRIM OF THE GIANT'S HAT

"What fools you must be," he cried, "to want a saddle when you have not a horse to place it upon!"

"This saddle is worth a contest," said one of the men; "for whoever seats himself upon it and wishes himself somewhere, even if it be at the end of the world, will have his wish the moment it is uttered."

"The saddle is our joint property, and it is my turn to ride it; but my companion will not let me,' said the other.

"I will soon put an end to this contention," said the drummer. "Go to a little distance and stick a

white staff in the ground; then come back and start from here to run to the mark, and whoever is there first is to ride first."

They did as he advised, and then both started off at full trot; but scarcely had they taken two steps when the drummer swung himself onto the saddle and wished to be on the top of the mountain, and ere a man could turn his hand, there he was.

The top of the mountain formed an extensive plain, on which stood an old stone house; in front of it was a large fish-pond, and behind it a dark, dreary forest. Neither man nor animals could be seen; not a sound disturbed the peaceful stillness except the rustling of the leaves in the wind, while the clouds floated silently overhead.

He stepped up to the door of the house and knocked. No one answered, and he knocked a second time; but it was not till the third time that the door was opened by an old woman with a brown face and red eyes. She had a pair of spectacles on her long nose, and looked at him very sharply as she asked, “What is your business here?"

"I want admission, food, and a night's lodging," he replied.

"All these you shall have," she replied, "if you will perform three tasks for me."

"Willingly," he replied; "I do not shrink from work, however difficult it may be."

The old woman, on this, led him in, gave him a supper, and a good bed in the evening.

Next morning when he got up, breakfast was ready for him, and after eating it he expressed his readiness to perform the tasks she had spoken of.

In reply, the old woman took a thimble from her

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