JOHNNY GLOKE was a tailor by trade; but he was a man of too much spirit to continue to be a tailor all his days. In fact, he was fonder of basking idly in the sun than of plying the needle and scissors. As time went on he grew more and more discontented, and the desire to follow some other path that would lead to honor and fame finally induced him to swear that he would do tailoring no longer. From its resting-place on the wall of his workroom he took down a rusty old sword that had belonged to some of his ancestors, and set out in search of adventures.
After traveling a long way, he came to a country that was much troubled by two giants, whom no one was bold enough to encounter, or strong enough to overcome. He soon learned that the king had offered a great reward and the hand of his daughter in marriage to the man who should rid his kingdom of this scourge. Johnny’s ardor was roused to attempt the deed, and he offered himself for the service.
The common haunt of the giants was a certain wood, and Johnny set out with his old sword to perform the task of vanquishing them. When he reached the wood, he lay down to think and contrive some plan of action by which he could gain an advantage over the giants, for he knew he was far too weak to combat them unless circumstances favored him. While he was still thinking, he saw them coming with a wagon to get wood for fuel, and the sight of them sent the cold shivers down his spine, they were so big and had such huge, shaggy heads and tusk-like teeth.
Johnny sought safety by hiding in a hollow tree. Presently he recovered sufficiently from his alarm to peep out and watch the two at work; and as he watched them a method of getting the better of them occurred to him. He picked up a pebble and threw it so it struck one of the giants a sharp blow on the forehead. The giant, smarting with the pain, turned on his companion, and in strong words blamed him for the blow. The other angrily denied that he had thrown the pebble.
Johnny kept quiet, but as soon as the giants, still grumbling at each other, resumed work, he let fly another pebble. It hit the same giant who had been hit before, and the fellow assailed his companion in fury, and they belabored each other till they were utterly tired out. Then they sat down on a log to breathe and rest themselves.
“Well,” said one of them, “all the king’s army has not been able to get the better of us hitherto, but I fancy that an old woman with a broom would be too much for us now.”
“If that is so,” shouted the former tailor, springing bold as a lion from his hiding-place, “what do you say to being attacked by Johnny Gloke with his old rusty sword?”
Before they could recover from the astonishment occasioned by his words and sudden appearance he had run to where they were, and in a twinkling he cut off their heads. That done, he went out of the wood and sought the king, who, as soon as he was satisfied that Johnny had killed the giants, gave him the princess in marriage.
For a time he lived in peace and happiness, and as he did not tell by what method he had overcome the giants, he was considered a man of great prowess and valor. At length a rebellion broke out among the subjects of his father-in-law, and such was Johnny’s reputation that he was promptly chosen as the proper person to quell the uprising. His heart sank within him, but he could not refuse and so lose his great name. So he told the servants to fetch a horse for him to mount, and they brought the fiercest steed that ever saw the sun, and he set forth on his desperate task. He was not accustomed to ride on horseback, and he soon lost all control of the fiery creature he bestrode. Away it galloped at full speed in the direction of the rebel army.
In its wild career it passed under a gallows that stood by the wayside. The gallows was old and frail, and it had so rotted away at the base that it leaned over the road almost ready to fall. Johnny came into collision with it, and it broke off and lodged squarely on the horse’s neck. On rushed the horse at furious speed, carrying both Johnny and the gallows toward the king’s enemies. When the rebels saw the horse with its strange burden dashing toward them they were seized with terror, and cried one to another: “There comes Johnny Gloke, who unaided killed two giants at the same time. Now he is going to assail us, and is bringing a gallows on his horse’s neck to hang us all.”
Then they scattered and fled in dismay, and never stopped till they reached their homes. Thus was Johnny Gloke a second time victorious. So when the old king died every one rejoiced to have Johnny become the ruler of the kingdom, and he reigned long and well.
