As soon as ever Hop-o'-my-thumb had made sure of the Ogre's
seven-league boots, he went at once to the palace, and offered his
services to carry orders from the king to his army, which was a great
way off, and to bring back the quickest accounts of the battle they
were just at that time fighting with the enemy. In short, he thought
he could be of more use to the king than all his mail coaches, and so
should make his fortune in this manner. He succeeded so well, that in
a short time he made money enough to keep himself, his father, mother,
and six brothers, without the trouble of working, for the rest of
their lives. Having done this, he went back to his father's cottage,
where all the family were delighted to see him again. As the great
fame of his boots had been talked of at court in this time, the king
sent for him, and indeed employed him very often in the greatest
affairs of the state, so that he became one of the richest men in the
kingdom.
And now let us see what became of the wicked Ogre. He slept so soundly
that he never discovered the loss of his boots; but having an evil
conscience and bad dreams, he fell in his sleep from the corner of the
rock where Hop-o'-my-thumb and his brothers had left him, and bruised
himself so much from head to foot, that he could not stir: so he was
forced to stretch himself out at full length, and wait for some one to
come and help him.
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