I
"Children are a burden," said the tailor, as he sat on his bench
stitching away.
"Children are a blessing," said the kind lady in the window.
It was the tailor's mother who spoke. She was a very old woman and
nearly helpless. All day she sat in a large armchair knitting rugs.
"What have my two lads ever done to help me?" continued the tailor,
sadly. "They do nothing but play. If I send Tommy on an errand, he
loiters. If I ask him to work, he does it so unwillingly that I would
rather do it myself. Since their mother died I have indeed had a hard
time."
At this moment the two boys came in, their arms full of moss which
they dropped on the floor.
"Is there any supper, grandmother?" asked Tommy.
"No, my child, only some bread for breakfast to-morrow."
"Oh, grandmother, we are so hungry!" and the boy's eyes filled with
tears.
"What can I do for you, my poor children?" said the good woman.
"Tell us a story, please, so that we can forget we are hungry. Tell us
about the brownie that used to live in your grandfather's house. What
was he like?"
"Like a little man, they say."
"What did he do?"
"He came early in the morning before any one in the house was awake,
and lighted the fire and swept the room and set out the breakfast. He
never would be seen and was off before they could catch him. But they
often heard him laughing and playing about the house."
"Did they give him any wages, grandmother?"
"No, my dear, he did the work for love. They always set a pan of clear
water for him, and now and then a bowl of bread and milk."
"Oh, grandmother, where did he go?"
"The Old Owl in the woods knows; I do not. When I was young many
people used to go to see the Old Owl at moon-rise, and ask her what
they wanted to know."
"How I wish a brownie would come and live with us!" cried Tommy.
"So do I," said Johnny.
"Will you let us set out a pan of water for the brownie, father?"
asked Tommy.
"You may set out what you like, my lad, but you must go to bed now."
The boys brought out a pan of water. Then they climbed the ladder to
the loft over the kitchen.
Johnny was soon in the land of dreams, but Tommy lay awake thinking
how he could find a brownie and get him to live in the house. "There
is an owl that lives in the grove," he thought. "It may be the Old Owl
herself. When the moon rises, I'll go and find her."