after another just as she had left it. There was one room in
the house which was securely barred on the inside, however.

The lad and his mother spent the night in their old home. In the
morning they again walked about the deserted streets of the city. They
saw no one and heard no living sound. It was like a city of the dead.
They grew hungry at length; and the lad went outside the city to seek
for food in the forest, according to the custom which he had known all
his life.

The mother returned to her old home to await the coming of her son. As
soon as she went upstairs she saw that the barred door was wide open.
There in the hall stood the most enormous giant she had ever seen. The
great halls of the house were high, but the giant could not stand up
in them without stooping.

[Illustration: There in the hall stood the most enormous giant she had
ever seen]

"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" roared the giant in
such a terrible voice that the house trembled.

The woman who had lived so many years in the forest was not easily
frightened. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" she
shouted at the giant in the loudest tones she could muster.

One might have expected that the giant would have killed her
instantly, but on the contrary her bold answer pleased him
exceedingly. He laughed so hard that he had to lean against the wall
to keep from falling.

"So you think that this is your house, do you?" said the giant as soon
as he could regain his voice. "Well, I'll tell you what we can do. I
like you, and we can share this house if you will consent to be my
wife."

"I am not alone," said the lad's mother as soon as she could recover
from her surprise sufficiently to find words. "My son is with me and I
am expecting him any moment to return from the forest whither he has
gone to procure food for us."

"I can dispose of your son very quickly, just as I have destroyed all
the inhabitants of this city," said the giant with a frown.

"You cannot dispose of my son so easily as you may think," replied his
mother. "He has grown in the deep forest and is very strong, far
stronger than the city dwellers. Besides his great strength, he is
surrounded by the magic circle of his mother's love."

"I do not know what the magic circle of a mother's love is like," said
the giant. "I don't remember having seen one anywhere. Nevertheless I
like you, and because I like you I will endeavour to dispose of your