et
except the way they came. Both sides were sheer rock, almost
perpendicular, with thick trees at the top; in front of them the ground
rose in a steep hill, bare of woods. As they looked up, they saw that the
top was barricaded by the trunks of trees, and guarded by a strong body of
Hillsmen. As the English hesitated, looking at this, a shower of spears
fell from the wood's edge, aimed by hidden foes. The place was a death
trap.

At this moment, their danger was seen by the officer in command of the
main body, and he signalled to the sergeant to retreat.

By some terrible mischance, the signal was misunderstood. The men took it
for the signal to charge. Without a moment's pause, straight up the slope,
they charged on the run, cheering as they ran.

Some were killed by the spears that were thrown from the cliffs, before
they had gone half way; some were stabbed as they reached the crest, and
hurled backward from the precipice; two or three got to the top, and
fought hand to hand with the Hillsmen. They were outnumbered, seven to
one; but when the last of the English soldiers lay dead, twice their
number of Hillsmen lay dead around them!

When the relief party reached the spot, later in the day, they found the
bodies of their comrades, full of wounds, huddled over and in the
barricade, or crushed on the rocks below. They were mutilated and
battered, and bore every sign of the terrible struggle. _But round both
wrists of every British soldier was bound the red thread!_

The Hillsmen had paid greater honour to their heroic foes than to the
bravest of their own brave dead.

* * * * *

Another instance is the short poem, which, while being perfectly simple,
is rich in suggestion of more than the young child will see for himself.
The following example shows the working out of details in order to provide
a satisfactorily rounded story.

THE ELF AND THE DORMOUSE[1]

[Footnote 1: Adapted from _The Elf and the Dormouse_, by Oliver Herford,
in _A Treasury of Verse for Little Children_. (Harrap. 1s. net.)]

Once upon a time a dormouse lived in the wood with his mother. She had
made a snug little nest, but Sleepy-head, as she called her little
mousie, loved to roam about among the grass and fallen leaves, and it was
a hard task to keep him at home. One day the mother went off as usual to
look for food, leaving Sleepy-head curled up comfortably in a corner of
the nest. "He will lie there s