ent
to the tender little four-years-old boy.

Ted's face grew rather white, he edged away a little from this strange
gentleman, whom he could not make out, but who was so big that Ted felt
it impossible to doubt his being able to do anything he wished.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" he repeated, quite gravely, and
glancing at Ted with slightly knitted brows which made the boy suddenly
think of some of the "ogre" stories he had heard.

"No," said Ted bluntly. But he was afraid to say more. Ogres didn't
like to be contradicted, and perhaps--_perhaps_ this strange man really
thought he _would_ like it, and really meant to please him. Any way, it
would never do to answer rudely, though Ted's face grew still paler,
when his glance fell on the mountain peak clearly to be seen out of the
window from where he stood, and a little shiver ran through him when he
thought that perhaps he would have to go, whether he liked it or not. He
edged away still farther, but it was no use. Mr. Brand had put his arm
round him, and there was no getting away, when suddenly a noise outside
the window caught the gentleman's attention and he started up. It was
his dog barking loudly, and Mr. Brand, fearing he might have got into
some mischief, stepped out through the glass door to see. Ted was on
the alert, and before any one in the room had noticed him he was off.

Where should he go to? He dared not hide in the garden, for there he
might be seen, especially as Mr. Brand was running about after his dog;
he would not go up to the nursery, for nurse would ask him why he had
not stayed downstairs; he did not even wish to find Percy, for though he
could not have explained why, he felt that it would be impossible for
him to tell _any one_ of the strange terror that Mr. Brand's joke had
awakened. He felt ashamed of it, afraid too that if, as he vaguely
thought might be the case, the offer had been made in real earnest and
with a wish to please him, his dislike to it would be ungrateful and
unkind. Indeed poor Ted was more troubled than he ever remembered to
have been in his whole little life--he could think of nothing for it but
to hide till all danger was past.

A brilliant idea struck him--he would go and pay a visit to cook! It was
not very often he went into the kitchen, and no one would look for him
there. And cook was kind, very kind when not very busy. So with a slight
shudder as, running past the open front-door, he caught sight of the
w