"As I was saying," the gnome went on, "after having driven away the savage animal, you said you wished you could be like the celebrated "Jack the Giant-Killer," and then we decided you would help us, and we put up the steps and door."
"What am I to do, now that I am here?" asked Teddy, much perplexed, "am I to kill a giant?"
"You are to kill six," replied the gnome, calmly, while a joyful chorus of "six" came from the hundreds of little gnomes standing by.
"Six," echoed Teddy, faintly, "I—I don't think I could kill six, I'm not sure I could kill one, alone."
"Not kill the six giants," said the gnome, in a voice of anger and surprise, "then why did you come?"
"I don't know," and Teddy began to wish heartily that he had never found the trap door, and never visited Gnome-land.
There was a long silence, in which Teddy shifted his feet, twisted his cap into a string, and felt very unhappy and awkward. Then the silence was broken by the biggest gnome, who came a little closer to Teddy, and said, calmly, but firmly;
"You expressed a wish to kill a giant, here there are six, who come every night, when we are asleep and cannot sing, and when our elephants are obliged to leave us to attend to their other duties. When we wake in the morning, we find our work all undone and broken, our tools made useless, and often many of our number killed. You must rid us of these pests, and if you cannot think of a way now, you must remain here in captivity until you do." So speaking he led Teddy to a cave in the side of the hill, and pushed him in.
"When you are ready," he said, "you have only to blow this whistle loudly, twice, and you will be released," then the door closed, and Teddy found himself alone.
For a few minutes all he heard was the pattering of hundreds of little feet, going down the hill, then the chanting song commenced again, and he knew that they had gone back to their work.