fort. Orderly, bid Lieutenant Heady take
command and cover the retreat. Tell him to fight every inch of ground."

Then Spite turned upon his heels and hurried to the rear. In truth, he
was not sorry for an excuse to withdraw from the fight. He stumbled over
the ruins of the camp at every step. It was a complete wreck. Not a
tent, not a building of any kind remained, except the fort, to which he
bent his course. It was a huge structure, as we have seen, braced and
strengthened by every art and effort at the Pixies' command. But Spite's
heart failed him as he looked around, and saw how everything else in
camp had vanished away before the mighty breath of his adversaries.

"See!" he exclaimed, "Madam Breeze and her train have just attacked the
fort. Will it hold out, I wonder?" With this thought in mind he hurried
forward.

Keener saw him coming, and recognized him at once. "There comes Spite
the Spy!" he shouted. "At him, boys! let us toss him in one of his own
sticky blankets!"

"Aye, aye," answered Whisk, "suppose we fling him over the horns of the
moon, and let him--"

"Let him stick there," cried Whirlit, finishing the sentence. Whereat
the trio pounced pell-mell upon the Pixie chief.

"Very well, my lads," exclaimed Madam Breeze, "you're quite welcome to a
monopoly of the old beast. Phooh! How he smells of poison! He well nigh
takes my breath. Fort smashing suits me better." With these words she
threw herself against the Agalena wing of Fort Spinder. Every cord and
canvas in it shook with the violence of the onset. But it was unbroken.
Again and again the stout Elf cast herself against the walls; the cords
creaked and seemed about to part, but so elastic were they that they
swayed inward with a heavy surge and then back again. The weeds, blades
of grass and twigs to which the ropes and beams were fastened bent under
the weight of the blast, but were unbroken.

All this time Spite was struggling with the three Elves. They pinched
his skin, they plucked at his cheek, mouth and nostrils. They almost
blinded him with blasts which they cast full into his eyes. They pulled
his clothes, and held him by the limbs. But he kept on his path.
Stoutly, stubbornly he fought his way step by step until he stood at
last before the gate of the fort. He was seen at once, and a dozen of
the inmates ran forward to admit him.

"Not for your lives!" he shouted. "Don't leave a crack open, if you can
help it, for these blusterers t