Page:John Bunyan's Dream Story.djvu/105

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GIANT DESPAIR
101

the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Think how you played the man at Vanity Fair, and feared neither chain nor cage nor bloody death. So, let us bear up with what patience we can."

The next morning the giant went down into the dungeon again. There he found his two prisoners not only alive but somewhat stronger than before, and the sight of them roused his anger again.

"What! Still alive?" he said gruffly.

Then he opened a little window in the wall of the dungeon and showed them the yard of the castle. It was strown with white bones and skulls, and was indeed a dreadful place to look into.

"Do you see those bones?" said Giant Despair. "They are bones of men who were once pilgrims as you are. They trespassed upon my grounds and I tore them in pieces, just as I shall tear you when I am ready."

Then he gave them another beating and left them in a worse state than before.

"It is strange how much they can endure," he said to his wife. "You would think that with all the beatings I have given them, and with all my advice, they would have come to an end before now."