At last,
just as Edmund was about to lay hold of it--as he made sure to do--it
bounded to the top of a high, steep bank, and commenced doing the toe
and heel shuffle.
Well, it was a droll sight, certainly, to see that fairy slipper, with
all its sparkling jewels, dancing such a merry jig. I suppose because it
was so droll was the reason why the little folks laughed so loud, and
clapped their hands and jumped about as if they were mad.
Some of the bigger boys began to climb the bank in pursuit of the shoe,
whilst the little ones fancied they did a vast deal towards capturing it
by shouting with all their might; the louder they shouted the quicker
the shoe danced, and the quicker the shoe danced the more they clapped
their hands and laughed.
Alphonse climbed up a break in the bank, and so got to the top of it, a
little to one side of where the shoe was cutting its merry capers. He
crept softly along until he got within arm's length of it, then he made
a bold grasp and seized it by the heel; but he soon let it go again, for
a sharp, tingling pain ran up his arm to his shoulder, making him roar
out pretty loudly.
The slipper, as soon as it was released, spun round two or three times,
then, planting its heel on the ground and pointing its toe in the air,
it gave a spring and was out of sight in a moment.
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