"Indra! Indra! Indra! Oh, Indra! Where are you?" called Carla and
Alween. "Come, Indra, we are going home. Come, it will soon be dark.
Hurry, or we shall lose our way." But Indra did not answer. In her
eagerness to find the biggest berries she had strayed away from her
sisters. Now it was quite dark, and she could not find the path. She
called and called but heard nothing save the sound of her own voice.
At last, just as she was thinking, "I will have to pass the night here
all alone in the wood," she saw a light shining through the darkness.
Following this light, Indra soon stood in front of a small house at the
door of which she knocked. "Come in!" called a harsh voice. Stepping
inside, the girl saw before her an old man whose beard was long, whose
hair was white and whose back was bent almost double; while lying near
him in front of the fire, were a cock, a hen and a brindled cow.
"I have lost my way in the forest," said Indra. "It is dark, I have
nowhere to sleep and I am so hungry. Will you not give me something to
eat and a bed to lie on?"
The old man looked at her for a long time with his sharp, gray eyes
then, turning to the animals by the fire, he said,--
"My cock, my hen,
My brindled cow,
What say you now?
What say you now?"
The cock, the hen, and the brindled cow all opened their mouths and
called out together,--
"Oh, let her stay!
We'll not say nay."
"Go into the kitchen and cook us some supper," said the old man turning
again to Indra. The girl did as she was bidden. Soon a good meal was
ready which she placed upon the table, but she gave nothing to the
animals and without speaking to them, or even so much as looking at
them, she sat down at the old man's side and ate heartily.
"Now I am satisfied," said Indra. "Show me where to sleep." The
animals said nothing. "Go into the room above and make ready the two
beds you will find there, then I will come and lie down and sleep also,
for I am weary," said the old man.
Indra spread the two beds with fresh linen. Then without giving one
thought to the hungry animals below, she laid herself down in one of
the beds and fell fast asleep.
When at last the old man climbed to the loft and saw Indra lying in a
deep slumber, he looked sorrowfully at her for a long time. Then
shaking his head sadly and slowly, he opened a curious door beneath the
bed on which the girl lay and let her down into the dark, underground
cellar of the hut.
That night there was trouble and sorrow for good Mother Grougans and
for Carla and Alween. As soon as daylight came they went forth to
search for Sister Indra; but, though they scoured the forest far and
wide, not a trace of her could be found, and at last they were forced
to give their dear one up as lost.
Now as the two sisters Carla and Alween gathered berries in the forest
one day not long after, Carla, in her eagerness to fill her pail with
the biggest berries, strayed away just as her sister Indra had done.
Alween was forced to return home alone, and it happened with Carla just
as it had with her elder sister. She followed the light that shone
from the cottage window, knocked at the door, entered, and saw the old
man sitting and the animals lying by the fire. She too begged for food
and a bed in which to sleep.