vide, rubbed his eyes, and finally turned his
etupid head in the direction whither his little
friends were eagerly pointing.

No sooner did he set eyes on the stranger,
than, leaping on his feet, and seizing his walking
stick, he strode a mile or two to meet him; all
the while brandishing the sturdy pine tree, so
that it whistled through the air.

"Who are you?" thundered the Giant. "And
what do you want in my dominions?"

There was one strange thing about Antaeus,
of which I have not yet told you, lest, hearing of
so many wonders all in a lump, you might not
believe much more than half of them. You are
to know, then, that whenever this redoubtable
Giant touched the ground, either with his hand,
his foot, or any other part of his body, he grew
stronger than ever he had been before. The
Earth, you remember, was his mother, and was
very fond of him, as being almost the biggest of
her children; and so she took this method of
keeping him always in full vigor. Some per-
sons affirm that he grew ten times stronger at
every touch; others say that it was only twice
as strong. But only think of it! Whenever

[[87]]

p086 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p087w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p088

v?