"All the better to hear you with, my little dear."
"And your eyes, Grannie; what great yellow eyes you have!"
"All the better to see you with, my pet," grinned the Wolf.
"And oh! oh! Grannie," cried the child, in a sad fright, "what great sharp teeth you have!"
"All the better to eat you with!" growled the Wolf, springing up suddenly at Red Riding-Hood. But just at that very moment the door flew open, and two tall wood-cutters rushed in with their heavy axes, and killed the wicked Wolf in far less time than it takes me to tell you about it.
"But where is Grannie?" asked Little Red Riding-Hood, when she had thanked the brave wood-cutters. "Oh! where can poor Grannie be? Can the cruel Wolf have eaten her up?"
And she began to cry and sob bitterly—when, who should walk in but Grannie herself, as large as life, and as hearty as ever, with her marketing-basket on her arm! For it was another [page 144] old dame in the village who was not very well, and Grannie had been down to visit her and give her some of her own famous herb-tea.
So everything turned out right in the end, and all lived happily ever after; but I promise you that little Red Riding-Hood never made friends with a Wolf again!
