THE Stepmother went out and came back with a flashlight.

“Here,” she said.

The Giant flashed it into the closet, yanked out the trunk, flashed the light in again, straight into Wendell’s face, as he crouched there half-covered by old clothes.

“He isn’t here,” said the Giant.

“No,” said his wife.

“He’s been in here, though,” declared the Giant, sniffing. “Strong smell of him.”

“Probably the man had him crawl in there to see if there was any leak in the connection,” suggested the Stepmother. “I hope he’ll come back and finish up soon. This place is a mess.”

What did it mean? They were looking straight at him. The light was shining full on him. Yet they didn’t see him, not any more than if he were invisible.

Invisible! Why, of course! The invisible cloak—the Cloak of Darkness that he had come to find!{74} It must be this musty old garment that he had pulled down to conceal him in his fright. Sure enough! And now came the terrifying thought,—in another moment the door might be closed upon him, and he shut fast in a prison from which there would be no easier escape than if it were a veritable Giant’s dungeon in a fairy book. He must get out at once. He drew the musty folds securely about him, crawled forward, dodged under the Giant’s very arm, squeezed close to the wall to pass the Stepmother, made himself small, not to crowd the Ugly Stepsister, all agog in the doorway, slid down the banisters, sneaked through the kitchen, out the back door, and away. He was free!

He scudded down the street as fast as his legs could twinkle, and turned the corner. Which way to go, was the question. A nice-looking lady was approaching. Wendell politely took off his cap and confronted her as she reached him. To his surprise, the lady sailed by without twitching a feature.

“Oh, of course. She can’t see me,” said Wendell. So he slipped off the cloak and hung it over his arm, and in a moment a grocer’s delivery boy with a basket came around the curve.

“Say, can you tell me where to get the car for Park Street?” asked Wendell.

“Sure, kid,” said the boy obligingly. “Keep on to a big house with a stone wall around it. Then take the first street to the right and you’ll come out on the car line.”

Wendell thanked him and went on, found the house and the wall and the street, and there ahead of him{75} were the electric wires. He got to the corner almost simultaneously with the car, hailed it and jumped on with a sigh of relief. It was a pay-as-you-enter car. He stood by the box and slid his hand into his............