TWO LITTLE CAPTIVES 



''"P) AIN, rain, rain. I wonder if it will 

 Xv ever stop," sighed Bertie at the 

 window. " Say, grandpa, don't you think 

 it might rain at night, so the boys could 

 stay out of doors all day?" 



"Well, I don't know, Bertie; the rain 

 does a great deal of good, especially after 

 a dry spell like the one we have had. But 

 don't you think that some little boys might 

 learn to be quiet on wet days, and stay in 

 the house contentedly, without going about 

 growling and making so much noise to 

 wake grandma up?" 



"But you see, grandpa, I haven't any- 

 thing to do. I would be quiet if you would 

 tell me a story." 



Grandpa kindly put his paper down and 

 lifted the little bov on to his knee. 



-<<. 



"What shall it be about, Bert; fairies 

 and beautiful j^rincesses and giants?" 



"Oh, no, they're girls' stories. You might 

 put a giant in, though, and have lots of 

 fighting." 



"Very well," said his grandfather, "we'll 

 have a giant and a battle and two captives; 

 will that do?" 



Bertie appeared satisfied, so the old gen- 

 tleman began: 



"Once upon a time, not very long ago, 

 there lived a certain man who had a wife 

 and two children. What shall their names 

 be?" 



"Rob and Dick," said the little boy. 



"Oh, no; one was a girl." 



"Well, Jenny, then. Rob and Jenny; go 

 ahead." 



"Rob and Jenny were very good chil- 

 dren, and had very nice times together, al- 

 though their father was quite poor; indeed, 

 sometimes they had to go to bed hungry, 

 and both their father and mother had to 

 work very hard to get enough to eat, and 

 came home at night very tired, but even if 

 they did not have as nice things as richer 

 children have, still they were very happy. 



"There was only one thing which kept 

 this little family from being perfectly happy, 

 and that was this. Down at the foot of the 

 hill was the castle of a cruel giant, Avho 

 chased them every time he saw them and 

 tried to catch them to eat. So the poor 

 father and mother were always afraid that 

 some day, while they were away, he w^ould 

 find their house and steal their children. 

 They told the children never to wander far 

 from home, but to play about their own 

 house. 



One day, while the father and mother 

 were out, Rob heard an awful noise, and 

 felt the ground shake so that it almost 

 knocked down their little house. He ran 

 to the door to see what was the matter, and 

 what should he see but the wicked giant 

 coming up the hill. 



"'.\h ha!" he cried, as soon as he saw 

 the little boy at the door, ' I've got you 

 '-his time.' 



" The poor little children ran back as far 

 as they could into the house to get away, 

 but he caught and held them fast in his 

 great big hand, and roared with delight. 



" ' Oh, please let us go,' said Rob, 

 'please, please do,' while poor little Jenny 



