_The High Mountains_
"WE must be going faster than a railway train," said George.
"We're going faster than twenty trains," replied the witch. "In a minute
or two we shall catch up the daylight.... Ah, there you can see it
already!" And she pointed to a speck of light toward which they were
travelling at lightning speed.
The light grew brighter and brighter, and at last they shot into the most
dazzling sunshine, and there, ahead of them, were the lovely mountains
with their snowy tops all aglow. They were travelling high up above the
land, and the only thing to be seen was a tremendously tall tower which
stood erect in the middle of the plain.
"Blow the horn!" cried the witch, and Alexander barked "_Wu-uff!_" three
times, while Golden Girl _miaowed_ like ten railway engines all blowing
off steam at the same time. The tower suddenly came to life, and, to
George's astonishment, as they drew closer he saw that it was a giant
holding out a hand nearly as big as a station platform.
They flew straight on and alighted gently on the outstretched hand, and
then the engines stopped. George looked behind him and saw two large cats,
as black as coal, sitting at the end of the broom.
"There, you see!" said the witch. "You never would have guessed."
"I haven't guessed now," replied George. "Did those two cats drive the
machine along?"
"Of course!" laughed the witch. "That's why it's called a catoplane. If
you wait until we start again you'll see how it's done." Then, turning,
she called out: "Good-morning, friend! Are you quite well to-day?"
"Good-morning!" replied the giant in a deep voice which rumbled and rolled
like thunder. "I'm fairly well, thank you. What brings you here?"
[Illustration: THE LIGHT GREW BRIGHTER AND BRIGHTER]
"We're just giving George and Alexander a lift. George is following his
fortune, you know."
"Ah, to be sure!" said the giant. "I remember hearing about it the last
time the storks passed this way. They generally bring me some news of what
is going on down below there."
George looked up at him with wide-open eyes. It isn't every day that one
gets a chance of seeing a live giant, except in a circus--and even then
they are disappointing, for they are not really a little bit like the
picture which is shown outside. No circus would be big enough to hold this
giant. He looked as if he were quite a mile long. His face was as big as
an enormous moon, but he looked quite kind and smiled all the time.
"Are you off to the mountains?" he asked. "I expect you'll find Him there.
He's not been very busy lately, but He's expecting you, I'm sure."
"Who's 'Him,' please?" asked George.
"Wait and see," replied the witch. "Little boys should always wait, and
then--perhaps--they will see."
There seemed to be a great deal of waiting in this country, but George
was learning to be patient. Alexander was busy talking to the cat, and
the witch was whispering in the giant's ear, as he had bent down his head
quite close to her.
"I wonder why he stands there all by himself," thought George. "He must
feel very lonely with his feet down ever so far below him and his head in
the clouds. I wonder if he ever goes to bed, and how does he get enough to
eat? I shouldn't like to be as big as that."
"He wants to know all about you, you see," said the witch to the giant.
George gave such a start! He had forgotten that she was there. How had she
been able to read his thoughts?
"I'm a witch, my dear, and can tell everything," smiled the witch,
answering his thoughts. "I can see right inside your little head if I want
to. If I couldn't, I shouldn't be a witch at all."
"Well, it's rather a long story to tell you all about myself," began
the giant. "It would take weeks and weeks. Even then we shouldn't have
finished, for then there would be the story of all the weeks during which
you had been listening to me."
"But I should know all about _that_," said George. "You would have been
telling me the story, of course, and I should have been here."
The giant thought for a moment. "Yes ... but _then_ I should have to tell
you the story of how I told you the story ... and even then it wouldn't
have an end, for----"
"You're half asleep!" cried the witch. "We can't wait to hear any more
just now. You can tell it to George by and by."
"It's always by and by," grumbled the giant. "I've been trying to tell
some one for years and years, and just as I'm going to begin it's always
time to go somewhere and do something. Where's the dragon?"
"Playing with his tail, or else fast asleep, I expect," said the witch.
"I never in all my life knew such a lazy creature. He's only awake when
there's a chance of a game. If he comes along after we've gone, tell _him_
your story."
"It's no use. He just jumps about and never listens. The last time he was
here he played with my boots and bit a great piece out of one of them.
He said he was sorry, but I've had a sore toe ever since. You wouldn't
believe what a lot I have to put up with," and the poor giant looked as if
he were going to cry.
"There, there!" said the witch soothingly. "You shall come with us if
you're good, only don't cry. Remember, the last time you flooded the
whole country and gave all of us dreadful colds. And what a bother it was
making extra handkerchiefs for you."
"Oh, may I come with you?" cried the giant. "I _should_ like that! I get
such pins and needles in my feet standing here."
"Why do you stand here?" asked George.
"To look out, of course," said the witch; and then, as she saw George was
going to ask another question, she gave the order to start.
The two black cats curled their tails round the end of the broom and then
began to turn round and round in the air.
"Doesn't it make them dreadfully giddy?" asked George.
"No, of course not," said the witch. "It might do so if they were ordinary
cats--but they're not. Listen to them purring."
What George had imagined was the throbbing of an engine was indeed the
purring of the two cats as they whirled round in opposite directions. The
witch was riding straight toward the mountains, and the giant with huge
strides was keeping close by their side. He nodded to them from time to
time, and George waved his hand in reply.
He was really a nice giant, and it was just as well to keep him cheerful
and happy, for it would be very disagreeable to have a flood.
The mountains came nearer and nearer, and George thought he had never seen
anything so splendid in all his life. Even the giant looked quite small
beside them.
"Are we going right to the top, the very tip-top of that mountain?" asked
George, pointing.
The witch did not answer for a moment. Then she turned to him and said:
"Sing!"
"What shall I sing?" asked George in surprise, for he only knew some old
nursery rhymes, and wasn't quite certain if he could remember the words or
not.
"Listen to the music," answered the witch. "That will tell you the words."
True enough, there was music in the air all around them, as if the trees,
the water, and the wind were all playing together. George listened, and
then, to his surprise, began to sing all about the thoughts which he had
been turning over in his mind.
"The mountain-tops are, oh, so high!
They make a hole right through the sky.
They glow with such a lovely light,
And far below them lies the night.
Their slopes are clad in fir and pine,
The queen has ne'er a dress so fine.
"And there they've stood, so I've heard say,
Ever so long and one long day.
And they will stand, so I've heard tell,
For ever and one day more as well.
So winds blow warm and winds blow cold
Over the mountain-tops so old.
"The mountain-tops so old and proud,
They wear a crown of mist and cloud.
For they were there when things began,
Ages before the oldest man.
Oh, mountain-tops, you're older far
Than great-great-great-great-grandpapa!"
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