"A million! Whew!" Marmaduke whistled. "That was quite a long time."

"Oh, no," responded the Giant, "not as long as you think. No more than
three shakes of a lamb's tail--when you come to look at it right."

"But where do you get all the coal?" was Marmaduke's next question. "I
should think you'd use it all up quick, you put on such big
shovelsful."

"See there," the Giant said, for answer pointing in at the sides of
the pit. Little tunnels ran from the sides into the dark Earth. And in
the tunnels were little gnomes, with stocking caps on their heads, and
they were trundling little wheelbarrows back and forth. The
wheelbarrows were full of coal, and when they had dumped the coal on
the Giant's pile they would hurry back for more. In their foreheads
were little lights, and in the dark tunnels of the Earth these shone
like fireflies or little lost stars.

"Would you like to see a trick?" asked the Giant.

"A card trick?" asked Marmaduke in turn, rather hoping it was.

The Giant laughed and looked down at his fingers. Each one was as big
as a thick flagpole thirty feet long.

"What would these fingers be doing, playing cards?" he said. "Pshaw! I
couldn't play even Old Maid--or Casino."

"I'll show you how," said Marmaduke eagerly, and the Giant put him on
a shelf of the Earth close to his head. Then Marmaduke took from his