“And then a very wonderful thing happened. The silver wire seemed to become so heavy that the roof of the house couldn’t bear its weight. The cabin swayed, and finally the roof fell in with a crash. Out of the dust and wreck walked the father of Three Wits, leading his horse, and, following him, came a dozen or more elegantly dressed gentlemen whom Three Wits had never seen before. They shook hands with the boy and thanked him for coming to their rescue, and each gave him a large sum of gold, so that when they started on their way home, Three Wits found that he was very rich. As for the father, he seized Three Wits in his arms and embraced him again and again, and declared that even a king might be proud to have such a brave son.
“While they were talking, the little old man came out of the wood. He went straight to Three Wits, placed his hand on the boy’s head, and seemed to be blessing him. Then he lifted Three Wits from the Stag’s back, mounted in his place, waved his hand twice, and, in a twinkling, had disappeared in the wood. That was the end of the witch, and this is the end of the story.”
“Well, I think it is a very good story,” said Buster John.
“I think so, too,” remarked Sweetest Susan; “but I’m sorry there was no little girl in it.”
XVII.
“KEEN-POINT,” “COB-HANDLE,” AND “BUTCH.”
“The three bobbins,” said Mrs. Meadows, “remind me of a circumstance—”
“Is a circumstance a story?” interrupted Sweetest Susan.