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at first imagined, to devour it, but instead of that he only 

 tossed it several times over, and at last, by a tremendous jerk, 

 threw it out of his den. Then he lay down, and pushing and 

 shoving his great body into the deep soft sand at bottom of the 

 pit, buried himself entirely all but his horrible tusks, which 

 remained sticking up above the surface. For a long while I 

 watched in breathless terror for his next proceeding, but, as he 

 continued quite motionless, I flattered myself that this was his 

 way of going to sleep ; and now or never, thought I, I must 

 make a trial to escape. I examined the bank above my head, 

 and seeing on its smooth surface a piece of projecting stone, set 

 foot on the steep ascent with a view to grasp it, but on my first 

 step a mass of dislodged sand fell rolling downwards. How 

 I shuddered lest the Ogre should be roused ! and so, in truth, 

 he was that is, if he had ever been asleep for instantly 

 rising to meet the stream of sand descending, came a volley of 

 the same, thrown up, seemingly, by the tossing of the monster's 

 broad flat head, as he still kept wallowing in his soft bed at 

 bottom of the den. I was almost blinded, and thrown nearly 

 off my station, but I contrived to keep it, and in a short time 

 all was again clear and quiet, and nothing but those terrible 

 tusks above the sand showed signs of a living thing in the 

 cavern, except my poor trembling little self. 



" If the Ogre's sleep was real, perhaps he had resumed it ; 

 but whether or not, I dared not again to set foot on the loose 

 surface of my prison-wall, but kept crouching on my ledge of 

 stone, till I grew as cold as it, and wished myself as senseless, 

 that I might not hear, as every moment I expected, another 

 stir below me, and feel myself being pelted down into the 

 monster's clutches. But hours, seeming weeks, went on, and 

 the Ogre remained still as death, till, as I supposed by the 

 increased obscurity of the cavern, the sun had set. Then, 

 suddenly, it grew darker still ; I heard a distant roll of thunder, 

 and there fell into the pitfall some great drops of rain. The 

 monster at the bottom began to stir. Ah ! thought I, it's all 



