The next day the giant, standing out on the rampart where every one could see and hear him, was shouting—­“The world is full of evil!  The world is full of evil!” And his friends thought sadly of that day, now only a little while ago, when it had been his wont to say that the world was full of good—­that, indeed, everything was good if you looked at it in the right way.  But suddenly he stopped shouting and lifted his head.

It was the first time he had been seen to lift his head in a number of days, and it seemed very good to see him do this.  He seemed to be listening intently, and also with a certain faint, dawning hope.

At the very same time Everychild lifted his head also and listened, but as he did so he clasped his hands with dread.

And also Prince Arthur and Cinderella and Hansel and Grettel and the other children lifted their heads and listened.

They had all heard some one playing on a pipe; and the sound, though distant, was very mysterious.  It drifted up from the forest road.  The notes continued to be heard, one by one, in the same strange, fascinating way.

It was the giant who first began to move in the direction of the sound of the pipe.  He did this at first as though reluctantly; but as he continued on his way he began to walk more alertly, and presently he seemed very eager.

And then Everychild found it impossible to withstand that sound and he too moved away in the direction from which the notes of the pipe came.  And the Sleeping Beauty, with a dreamy smile on her lips, walked with him; and Cinderella followed a few steps behind.  And then the others, one by one, fell into line:  Hansel and Grettel, the sons and daughters of the Old Woman who lived in the shoe, Prince Arthur, Little Bo-Peep, Little Boy Blue, and last of all, Tom Hubbard and the little black dog.

They all marched down the mountain road, away from the castle; and presently they began to catch glimpses of a figure in the distance, moving on before them elusively, and leaving behind a trail of enchanting notes.

They turned into the Road of Troubled Children, and far away they marched.  Far away they marched, but the figure on ahead still eluded them—­save that they heard the notes of the pipe clearer and more sweet and strange.

But at last the figure that led the way could be seen more clearly, and Everychild murmured to himself; “It is the Pied Piper!” And when this thought had occurred to him he could scarcely repress his excitement.

The figure in the road before them had now halted, though the dulcet notes went on and on.  It was a truly fascinating person, to say the least—­with a quaint costume, including a funny cap.  But presently Everychild, coming closer to the piper, drew in his breath shortly.

The player on the pipes was the Masked Lady!  She might have been thought to be dreaming as she lifted and lowered her beautiful fingers where the openings in the pipe were and went on playing.  Occasionally she glanced back to make sure that the children were all there.