soon as they heard that he was the person who had done
such wonders, they pressed round him with tears of joy, to return him
thanks for the happiness he had caused to them. After this the bowl went
round, and every one drank to the health and long life of the gallant
hero. Mirth increased, and the hall was filled with peals of laughter
and joyful cries. But, on a sudden, a herald, pale and breathless with
haste and terror, rushed into the midst of the company, and told them
that Thundel, a savage giant with two heads, had heard of the death of
his two kinsmen, and was come to take his revenge on Jack; and that he
was now within a mile of the house; the people flying before him like
chaff before the wind. At this news the very boldest of the guests
trembled; but Jack drew his sword, and said: "Let him come, I have a rod
for him also. Pray, ladies and gentlemen, do me the favour to walk into
the garden, and you shall soon behold the giant's defeat and death." To
this they all agreed, and heartily wished him success in his dangerous
attempt. The knight's house stood in the middle of a moat, thirty feet
deep and twenty wide, over which lay a drawbridge. Jack set men to work
to cut the bridge on both sides, almost to the middle; and then dressed
himself in his coat of darkness, and went against the giant with his
sword of sharpness. As he came close to him, though the giant could not
see him, for his invisible coat, yet he found some danger was near,
which made him cry out:

"Fa, fe, fi, fo, fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman;
Let him be alive, or let him be dead,
I'll grind his bones to make me bread."

"Say you so my friend?" said Jack, "you are a monstrous miller indeed."
"Art thou," cried the giant, "the villain that killed my kinsmen? Then I
will tear thee with my teeth, and grind thy bones to powder." "You must
catch me first," said Jack; and throwing off his coat of darkness, and
putting on his shoes of swiftness, he began to run; the giant following
him like a walking castle, making the earth shake at every step.

Jack led him round and round the walls of the house, that the company
might see the monster; and to finish the work Jack ran over the
drawbridge, the giant going after him with his club. But when the giant
came to the middle, where the bridge had been cut on both sides, the
great weight of his body made it break, and he tumbled into the water,
and rolled about like a large whale. Jack no