ancied
the giant came to look for her, and that his old face grew sad and sorry
when he saw her. And then she thought she heard him say, 'Poor little
girl, I did not mean to hurt her. I have done harm enough. Sunny,
forgive me. The giant will do you and your people no more harm. His day
is over.' Then she really did sleep, for a long time I fancy, for when
she woke up she could not think where she was. She thought at first
she was on the top of the mountain, it seemed so beautifully bright
and warm. She sat up a little and looked about her, and she _couldn't_
think where she was, for on one side close to her, she saw the dark
trees of the forest that she knew so well, and on the other, smiling
green fields and orchards and cottages with gardens filled with flowers,
just the sort of country her grandfather had told her he remembered when
he was a child on the other side of the great hill. It was just as if
the mountain had melted away. And, just fancy, that _was_ what had
happened! For in a little while Sunny heard voices coming near her, all
talking eagerly. It was the people of the forest who had found out what
had come to pass, and they were all hurrying to look for Sunny, for they
were terribly afraid that the giant had taken her away to Ogreland with
the mountain. But he hadn't, you see! And Sunny and all the forest
people lived all their lives as happy as could be--they were happier
even than in the old days the grandfather and grandmother remembered,
for not only were they free to leave the dark forest and enjoy the
sunlight as often as they liked, but the sunshine now found its way by
all the chinks and crannies among the branches into the very forest
itself."

"And did they never hear anything more of the giant?" asked Percy.

"No," said Mabel, "only in hot summer days sometimes, when the sun was
beating down too much on the fields and gardens, the people of that
country used to notice a large soft gray cloud that often came between
them and the sunshine, and would stay there till the great heat grew
less. This cloud seemed always the same shape, and somehow, Sunny,
remembering her vision of the giant, thought to herself that the cloud
was perhaps he, and that he wanted to make up for his long cruelty. And
the children of the forest having heard her story used to laugh when
they saw the cloud, and say to each other, 'See, there is the giant
warming his hands.' But Sunny would say softly in a whisper, 'Thank
yo