you very much. There's such a lot of you that there must be a
few SPARE places somewhere. Here, for instance, just behind
your foreleg. It couldn't hurt you much, just here!"

"Now you're tickling, George," said the dragon, coyly. "No, that
place won't do at all. Even if it didn't hurt,--and I'm sure it
would, awfully,--it would make me laugh, and that would spoil
everything."

"Let's try somewhere else, then," said St. George, patiently.
"Under your neck, for instance,--all these folds of thick skin,--
if I speared you here you'd never even know I'd done it!"

"Yes, but are you sure you can hit off the right place?"
asked the dragon, anxiously.

"Of course I am," said St. George, with confidence. "You leave
that to me!"

"It's just because I've GOT to leave it to you that I'm
asking," replied the dragon, rather testily. "No doubt you would
deeply regret any error you might make in the hurry of the
moment; but you wouldn't regret it half as much as I should!
However, I suppose we've got to trust somebody, as we go through
life, and your plan seems, on the whole, as good a one as any."

"Look here, dragon," interrupted the Boy, a little jealous on
behalf of his friend, who seemed to be getting all the worst of
the bargain: "I don't quite see where YOU come in! There's to
be a fight, apparently, and you're to be licked; and what I want