He climbed and climbed, but he did not climb fast enough for the old
woman.

"Are we at the top?" says she.

The old man said nothing, but went on, climbing up and up, nearly dead
with the weight of the old woman in the sack which he was holding in
his teeth.

He climbed a little further, and the old woman screamed out,--

"Are we at the top now? We must be at the top. Let me out, you old
fool!"

The old man said nothing; he climbed on and on.

The old woman raged in the flour sack. She jumped about in the sack,
and screamed at the old man,--

"Are we near the top now? Answer me, can't you! Answer me at once, or
you'll pay for it later. Are we near the top?"

"Very near," said the old man.

And as he opened his mouth to say that the sack slipped from between
his teeth, and bump, bump, bumpety bump, the old woman in the sack
fell all the way to the very bottom, bumping on every step. That was
the end of her.

After that the old man lived alone in the hut. When he wanted tobacco