, one after another. He still had his finger in
his mouth, where he kept crooking it and uncrooking it.

Then Cinderella asked: "Why dare you not go home?"

The little boy lowered his eyes until they rested on the ground.
"Because I dasn't," he said.

"But why?" persisted Cinderella.

A pause; and then, "Because I'll catch a lickin'."

It seemed to Everychild that the little boy was much too small to be
whipped; and he said with assurance, "You may go with us, if you will,
and then you'll never get a whipping again."

But the little boy only shook his head. Clearly there was a difficulty
in the way of accepting the invitation. And presently he began,
falteringly, "My brothers and sisters . . ."

"Oh," said Cinderella, understanding, "he doesn't want to leave his
brothers and sisters."

"But we could take your brothers and sisters, too," said Everychild to
the little boy.

The little boy now gazed at Everychild, and the blank expression in his
eyes was there no more.

"Come, we'll get them," declared Everychild. "Do you live far away?"

"There," said the little boy, pointing away into the forest, where not
a sign of a house was visible.

Here Grettel spoke for the first time: "Let's not," she said. "I don't
think I care about wandering away into the woods."

"We might get lost," suggested Cinderella.

And now the giant interposed. "I agree with Everychild that we ought
to take the little boy and his brothers and sisters with us," he said;
"and as for wandering away into the woods, that will not be necessary.
I'll take you to the house where the little boy lives by a secret
method which I understand."

With that he faced the depths of the forest and stood very erect, with
hands uplifted. There was a very solemn expression in his eyes. And
suddenly it seemed that the nearby trees began to lift and disappear;
and presto!--Everychild and his companions were standing quite close to
one of the most famous and remarkable houses ever heard of.

Everychild had too little time just then to marvel at the strange feat
which had been performed by the giant. He was lost in amazement at the
house before which he stood.

It was really an immense, dilapidated shoe, patched and broken. The
toe was about to gape open, though it was held here and there by a few
threads. The laces were gone and the whole upper sprawled shapelessly.
In brief, it was precisely like any old shoe you will see on a vacant
lot, sav