“‘Wait a minute,’ said Uncle Rain. ‘You may tell your father about this, but he must tell no one else. The moment the secret of the sheep is told outside your family, it will no longer be valuable to you.’
“The boy thanked Uncle Rain again, and started home, leading his wonderful sheep, which trotted along after him, as if it were glad to go along. The boy went home much faster than he had gone away, and it was not long before he reached there.”
“But what became of the little girl?” asked Sweetest Susan, as Mrs. Meadows paused a moment.
“I am coming to her now,” said Mrs. Meadows. “The girl, according to the bargain that had been made between her and her brother, was to visit Brother Drouth, and lay her complaints before him. So she started on her way. As she went along, the roads began to get drier and drier, and the grass on the ground and the leaves on the trees began to look as if they had been sprinkled with yellow powder. By these signs, the girl knew that she was not far from the house of Cousin Dust, and presently she saw it in the distance. She went to the door, which was open, and inquired the way to Brother Drouth’s. Cousin Dust was much surprised to see a little girl at his door; but, after a long fit of coughing, he recovered himself, and told her that she was now in Brother Drouth’s country.
“‘If you’ll show me the way,’ said the girl, ‘I’ll be more than obliged to you.’
“‘I’ll go a part of the way with you,’ said Cousin Dust, ‘and lend you a fan besides.’
“So they went along until they came in sight of Brother Drouth’s house, and then Cousin Dust went eddying back home in the shape of a small whirlwind. The girl went to Brother Drouth’s door and knocked. Brother Drouth came at once and opened the door, and invited her in.
“‘I’ll not deny that I’m surprised,’ said he, ‘for I never expected to find a little girl knocking at my door at this time of day. But you are welcome. I’m glad to see you. You must have come a long journey, for you look hot.’
“With that he went to the cupboard and got her a cool place to sit on, and this she found very comfortable. But still Brother Drouth wasn’t satisfied. As his visitor was a little girl, he wanted to be extra polite, and so he went to his private closet and brought her a fresh breeze with a handle to it; and, as the cool place had a cushioned back and the fresh breeze a handle that the girl could manage, she felt better in Brother Drouth’s house than she had at any time during her long journey. She sat there on the cool place and fanned with the fresh breeze, and Brother Drouth sat in his big armchair and smiled at her. The little girl noticed this after awhile, and so she said:—
“‘Oh, you can laugh, but it’s no laughing matter. If you could see the trouble you’ve caused at our house, you’d laugh on the other side of your mouth.’