"You don't care for 'The Headless Horseman'?" said Robert to little Elsie Barlow, who was sitting on his knee in Emily's parlor. "Which of the stories do you like best of all?"
Elsie shut up her book of fairy tales, trying to think.
"You ask mamma which she likes best, Bessie or me?"
"Oh, Elsie, that's dodging," laughed Robert.
"No, 'tisn't dodging," protested Elsie. "'Cause mamma don't like either of us best; and I like 'The House of Clocks' and 'The Ball of Gold' just the same as each other."
"'The Ball of Gold'—what a charming title! Tell me that. It can't help being pretty."
"Well, you see there was a great, tall giant," began Elsie, hunting diligently for his picture in the wonder-book, "and this giant had a ball of gold that rested on a saucer in his castle, just like an egg in its cup. It was round-shaped like a crystal and weighed, oh, ever so many tons. See, there he is."
"Ugh!" Robert shuddered realistically. "What a monster!"
"And oh, so cruel! Every knight that rode by he would challenge him to battle, and the giant would cut off his head and hang them around his belt, and the bodies he would throw to three great, savage dogs. That was all they had to eat."
"What cannibals!"