XXIII. THE MODERN GIANT

KILLER

ONCE upon a time we all believed that there used to be giants in this beautiful, wonderful world of ours. They grew to be so objectionable that a hero whom we know as Jack felt himself called upon to suppress them.

It is highly possible that Blunderbore and his brother giants of the FeFi-Fo-Fum school never existed; and it is by no means certain that Jack of the storybooks was ever born.

But for all that, there have always been real giants in the world; and there have been Jacks to keep them in order when they were unruly.

These strong ones are the children of Dame Nature, and the way to manage them is found out by climbing the bean stalk of knowledge, which

sprouts, nowadays, in the back garden of every cottage home.

Long, long ago, when the ancestor of our modern Jack was so young that he had not invented the letters that spell his own name, he saw the great red giant,

whose name is Fire, pass

over the forest and leave

it black and desolate.

"You are a savage giant," said Jack, "but you shall warm me, and you shall cook my dinner. I will feed you carefully; I will fan you

when you are faint; and shall do many

you

things for me in days

to come."

And for all he

was a giant he

would come at Jack's bidding by the rubbing of two sticks, as meekly as an obedient child; but he had to be watched or he would burn Jack's fingers, and when very hungry would swallow up Jack's house and all his possessions, as if to say: "You must look out sharply if you mean to be master."

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And there was another mighty but invisible giant, whose name is Wind, and he was the playfellow of the giant Fire and encouraged him in his violence.

Sometimes Wind was good tempered, and would breathe softly on Jack's face when he was hot with his work in the field, and would sing a weird song through the pine trees, which the boy liked to listen to; but at other times a savage mood would come upon him and he would break off great branches of the trees, and tear down Jack's house, and trample on his growing corn.

Aha!" Jack would laugh, "you are strong, my friend,-stronger than I,—but you shall help me!"

But the giant laughed and whistled as he went to a third great giant, whose name is Water. Jack, standing on the hilltop, saw this third giant stretched away as an ocean till he met the far away sky.

And the invisible giant Wind seemed to stoop down to his brother, Water, who splashed him in play. "Aha!" said Jack, "you shall both help me!"

And the boy made a boat, and the giant Water tossed it hither and thither. Then he rigged a sail, and the invisible giant leaned against it; and Jack became the master of these two giants, who did his bidding and carried him whithersoever he pleased, about the coasts of his island home.

For Jack had learned that even giants will willingly obey if you know how to ask them. It took him years to learn their nature; but the more he learned, the more honestly they served him.

The Wind was often obstinate; and one day it came to Jack's mind that he might call on the giant Fire to help him. And so Jack found out about Steam. Then he could laugh in his turn at the giant Wind, who could not stop him now on land or sea, and who was ever forced to give a helping breath to his great red brother Fire.

And so these three great giants ran at the bidding of little Jack, with their great pulse throbbing, over all the globe.

In a hundred ways, small and great, these giants served Jack, their master, in mill and forge and factory. One giant would help him against the other two, as happens nowadays when the fire company is called

out.

Many years passed before Jack found another most mighty but invisible giant, whose name is Electricity; and Jack tamed him also. "I cannot see you," said Jack, "but I know that you can run faster than Wind. You, therefore, must carry my messages. I will sit here and tap with my finger on a little button, and you

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shall whisper my secrets on the instant at the other end of the world." And so it has come about.

The giant killer of old destroyed the useless monsters of the legends; but the Jack of our own day has done a nobler thing: he has tamed the giants and made them surrender their imprisoned secrets, and lend their mighty strength to aid man's littleness.

There are great giants yet, whose secrets are but little known to our Jack of to-day. These must be found, though the way through the enchanted forest should be dark and uncertain.

As Jack climbs higher and higher up the bean stalk of knowledge, fresh wonders grow upon his sight; new giants make him conscious of their power; but he gains will and strength from each new effort to see far, far into the region of infinite possibilities, while we wait and watch for some new strange leaf of the bean stalk that he may throw down to us.

R. ANDRÉ.