Offero, the Giant — Elizabeth Harrison

OFFERO, THE GIANT A CHRISTMAS-EVE STORY IN the far-away land of Canaan there once lived a giant named Offero, sometimes called Offer and later on called Opher. The three names mean the same thing, "The Bearer of Burdens,'* and he was well named, for he could carry with ease the heaviest load. . He stood ten feet high, three feet taller than the tallest man in all the country round about ! And he was as OFFERO, THE GIANT strong as he was tall. He thought nothing of plucking up a young fir- tree by the roots if he chanced to need a walking-stick or a club. He had thick, shaggy black hair which made one think of a lion's mane, and his eyebrows were so bushy and black that they made his deep-set eyes look like the eyes of some wild beast when he chanced to be in a rage, which, I am sorry to say, was far too often. Most of the time, however, he was like a big, good-natured child, or a tame animal. If he had enough to eat and a place to sleep he was con- OFFERO, THE GIANT tent, and sometimes when he was in a good mood he would do all sorts of things for his friends, such as pull- ing out stumps from their fields, no matter how deep-rooted the stumps might be, or by lifting huge stones for them. Many a neighbor had a strong fence built around his home by large stones which Offero had brought from the mountain-side.