s? What could they mean? Presently a
great door, cut in the side of a towering mass of stone, opened with a
burst of light, and toward Giles there hurried the two strangest
creatures whom he had ever seen. These were two elves, alike as two peas
and each about three feet tall. Instead of having ears much like other
elves, however, the first one had ears like great curved cornucopias,
which projected almost a foot on each side of his enormous round head,
while the other, whose ears were quite natural, had but one huge eye in
the centre of his forehead.

Without saying a single word, these strange elves seized Giles by the
hands, and after hurrying him across the open space, urged him through
the open doors into the house in the crags.

Still keeping silence, the elves led Giles through hundreds of splendid
rooms and great halls, all lighted by hanging lamps as countless in
number as the leaves upon the trees. Suddenly, a great archway rose
before them, through which appeared a hall larger and brighter than all
the others seen before. At one end of it, under a canopy of rosy-gray,
stood a golden throne, and on the throne sat a being dressed in radiant
blue--in blue such as the sky wears after a rain, when the dark clouds
with bright edges break asunder and reveal the glory overhead. At the
same moment, the countless mountain elves gathered in the hall began to
sing:--

"All Hail, All Hail to the Shepherd of Clouds,
Who, high in his mountain-top, rules o'er the' weather;
He sends the rich rain over mountain and plain,
And sprinkles the dew-drops afar o'er the heather."

The elves led Giles before the Shepherd.

"How comest thou, mortal, to invade my mountain?" said the Shepherd.

"I went forth to seek Phyllida," said Giles, "and lost my way in the
storm."

"What sayest thou, Eye-o?" said the Shepherd to the elf with the single
great eye in his forehead.

"The mortal speaks the truth," answered Eye-o in the queerest,
squealiest voice. "I saw him set out yesterday from his cottage on the
plain. He had not gone far when the storm which Your Mightiness prepared
in the morning and sent forth in the afternoon overtook him. He lost his
way, and chance led him to your dwelling, O Shepherd of Clouds."

"What sayest thou, Ear-o?" said the Shepherd to the elf with the great
ears.

"I heard him say good-bye to his wife Wednesday last," replied the elf
in a voice exactly like that of his brother. "Phyllida said