"Come!" invited the circus man in the giants' tongue, and the brothers entered the hut.
How Jake persuaded them to throw in their fortunes with the captives the circus man hardly knew himself. Perhaps it was due as much as anything to the dislike they felt toward the king, and the mean way he had treated them.
"Come, and you will be kings among the small men in our country," invited Poddington. The brothers looked at each other, talked together in low tones, and then Koku exclaimed:
"We will come, and we will help you to escape. We have spoken, and we will talk with you again."
Then they glided out into the darkness, while from afar came the sounds of revelry at the big feast.
Chapter XXIII A Surprise in the Night
Tom and his friends could scarcely believe their good fortune. It seemed incredible that they should have induced two of the biggest giants to accompany them back, and, not only that, but that they had the promise of the strong men to aid them.
"Now we must get busy," declared Tom, when their visitors had gone. "We've got lots of work to do on the aeroplane, and we must try out the engine. Then we've got to fix the side of the hut so it will fall out when we're ready for it. And we've got to plan how to meet the giants later in the forest."
"Yes," agreed the circus man, "and we must take care that Hank Delby doesn't spoil our plans."