THE RELUCTANT DRAGON
was at hand, and a belated member was passing homewards down the road, singing as he went:—
"Then St. George: ee made rev'rence: in the stable so dim,
Oo vanquished the dragon: so fearful and grim.
So-o grim: and so-o fierce: that now may we say
All peaceful is our wakin': on Chri-istmas Day!"
The singer receded, the carol died away. But I wondered, with my hand on the door-latch, whether that was the song, or something like it, that the dragon sang as he toddled contentedly up the hill.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c4/Tailpiece_to_The_reluctant_dragon_in_Dream_days.png/220px-Tailpiece_to_The_reluctant_dragon_in_Dream_days.png)