The Boy made his way back to the village in a state of great despondency. First of all, there wasn't going to be any fight; next, his dear and honoured friend the dragon hadn't shown up in quite such a heroic light as he would have liked; and lastly, whether the dragon was a hero at heart or not, it made no difference, for St. George would most undoubtedly cut his head off.

'My dear little man,' said the dragon solemnly, 'just understand, once for all, that I can't fight and I won't fight. I've never fought in my life, and I'm not…

There's a misunderstanding somewhere, and I want to put it right. The fact is, this is a good dragon.

'O deary, deary me,' moaned the dragon; 'this is too awful. I won't see him, and that's flat. I don't want to know the fellow at all. I'm sure he's not nice. Y…