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unable to remove his eyes from the weird little figure.

The little man laughed.

“That doesn’t make any difference to me,” he said. “ Perhaps you don’t believe in wind-fairies or water-fairies either. But you'd never have a fire but for us; we light them, and keep them in. If I were to go away now, your fire would be out in an instant, and you might blow and blow it as much as you liked; it would be all no use, unless one of us were to come back and put the light into the coals.”

“But how is it you don’t get burnt up?” asked Jack.

“Burnt up!” said the little man, scornfully; “why, we breathe fire and live in it; we should go out at once if we weren’t surrounded by it.”

“Go out! What do you mean by going out. Do you mean that you'd die?”

“I don’t know about dying,” said the little man, “but of course, without care, one is liable to go out. But don’t let’s talk of unpleasant subjects.”

“But do you mean that you live for ever?” asked Jack.