She did not notice him at first, being very busy writing upon a slip of paper with the quill pen which she dipped into a little bottle. Presently she raised her head and handed him the paper.
"Bend low thine ear," she said, and Herbie obeyed.
"Keep this until I am gone," she added, "then hold it over yonder candle light, for thy fortune is written there."
Each boy was now called in turn and received a slip of paper. Then the old witch arose.
"To those who obey my commands, good luck; to those who disobey, ill fortune," she cried, shaking her stick in the air, and in another moment she had quickly hobbled from the room.
Chuck now turned on the lights and Linn exclaimed:
"Where on earth did she ever come from?"
"Why, witches come out of the air," explained Toad. "They travel on a broomstick."
"Let's see what she wrote on the papers," proposed Hopie Smith.