The Hillsmen had paid greater honour to their heroic foes than to the
bravest of their own brave dead.

* * * * *

Another instance is the short poem, which, while being perfectly simple,
is rich in suggestion of more than the young child will see for himself.
The following example shows the working out of details in order to provide
a satisfactorily rounded story.


THE ELF AND THE DORMOUSE[1]

[Footnote 1: Adapted from _The Elf and the Dormouse_, by Oliver Herford,
in _A Treasury of Verse for Little Children_. (Harrap. 1s. net.)]

Once upon a time a dormouse lived in the wood with his mother. She had
made a snug little nest, but Sleepy-head, as she called her little
mousie, loved to roam about among the grass and fallen leaves, and it was
a hard task to keep him at home. One day the mother went off as usual to
look for food, leaving Sleepy-head curled up comfortably in a corner of
the nest. "He will lie there safely till I come back," she thought.
Presently, however, Sleepy-head opened his eyes and thought he would like
to take a walk out in the fresh air. So he crept out of the nest and
through the long grass that nodded over the hole in the bank. He ran here
and he ran there, stopping again and again to cock his little ears for
sound of any creeping thing that might be close at hand. His little fur
coat was soft and silky as velvet. Mother had licked it clean before
starting her day's work, you may be sure. As Sleepy-head moved from place