238 THE BALL OF ENCHANTMENT. 



den of the Ogre, and with the apparition of the cruel winged 

 genius, that not one of the gazers dared approach, much less 

 touch it ; and, on beholding it again in motion, all drew back, 

 as before, in consternation. 



A voice was heard, it proceeded from the interior of the 

 ball, and, strangely as it sounded, there was something in its 

 tone familiar to thbse who heard it. Could it be the voice of 

 her they had been seeking ? It was none other ; and alarm 

 was all forgotten in joyful surprise when, peeping through the 

 rent in the misshapen sphere, they saw the little head of Pic- 

 coletta. Without waiting to inquire how she had got into that 

 world of wonder, or how she had fallen in, with it, amongst 

 her friends, some of the latter lifted her, ball and all, upon 

 their shoulders, and carried her, rejoicingly, to the city. 



When Piccoletta had stepped from out her strange con- 

 veyance, numbers of the curious, and now fearless spectators, 

 crowded round to look into its interior; but the first that put 

 in her head (for the most inquisitive on this occasion was said 

 to have been a female) started backwards with a loud scream. 



" The Ogre ! the Ogre !" resounded, and was echoed from 

 mouth to mouth. 



What next was to issue from this globe of enchantment ? 

 No monster, not a thing appeared. Indeed, though the ball 

 might have held half-a-dozen Piccolettas, it seemed not near 

 large enough to contain an ogre ; and, a little re-assured by 

 this conviction, several other pryers resumed its examination. 



