Page:The Floating Prince - Frank R Stockton.djvu/183

168 his portable bridges to the front, and by dinner-time every thing was ready for the grand attack, even to the slight intrenchment necessary to protect certain portions of the army from the giant's missiles, After a hurried dinner, the grand charge was sounded, and the soldiers rushed forward, and they bridged the ditch, and crossed the bridges, and stormed the walls, and waved their flags, and shouted, "Victory!" and jumped down into the inside, and found written there:

You would better believe that when King Gantalor saw this, he was angry. For a half hour or so, he was so angry that he did not know what to do with himself, but then he cooled down, and remembering that Derido would certainly keep his word, and come back, he drew off his men, and resolved to attack the giant as soon as he returned, and nothing was to be allowed to prevent.

When Derido got tolerably near the fort, he saw that it had been attacked, and supposing that Gantalor would be mad enough when he found it empty, he thought he had better rest a little; and so he did. and did not reach his fort until after dark, when the king and all his forces had gone to bed. Before daylight the next morning, Gantalor had his men all in position, and when the giant awoke and stood up, Gantalor shouted to him: "Look out there! We're going to begin! No more fooling now! Bridges to the front! Stormers, forward, march! Spearmen, ready, aim, fire!"

And instantly the men with the portable bridges ran down to the ditch, and the storming parties followed them, and the spearmen sent their weapons flying through the air. Then the men with bows aimed their arrows at the giant, and those with catapults sent rocks whizzing round his head, and he felt like a boy in a hornet's nest.