He gave a great rush with
his shoulder against the slab, but it yielded no more than if it
had been part of the rock. All he could do was to sit down and
think again.
By and by he came to the resolution to pretend to be dying, in the
hope they might take him out before his strength was too much
exhausted to let him have a chance. Then, for the creatures, if he
could but find his axe again, he would have no fear of them; and if
it were not for the queen's horrid shoes, he would have no fear at
all.
Meantime, until they should come again at night, there was nothing
for him to do but forge new rhymes, now his only weapons. He had
no intention of using them at present, of course; but it was well
to have a stock, for he might live to want them, and the
manufacture of them would help to while away the time.
CHAPTER 20
Irene's Clue
That same morning early, the princess woke in a terrible fright.
There was a hideous noise in her room - creatures snarling and
hissing and rocketing about as if they were fighting. The moment
she came to herself, she remembered something she had never thought
of again - what her grandmother told her to do when she was
frightened.
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