“‘Who are you?’ asked Johnny, forgetting to be polite, if he ever knew how.
“‘The Keeper of the Cows that roam in the night,’ replied the lady. ‘When you go to the Whispering Poplar that stands on the hill, whisper this:—
O Keeper of Cows that roam in the night,
Come over the hill and lend me your light.’
“Johnny would have thanked the woman, but in the twinkling of an eye she was gone without making a sound, and not a blade of grass shook to show that she had been there. Johnny turned in his tracks and started home the way he came. Before he had gone far he stopped to look back, but the strange country was nowhere to be seen—only the old familiar hills and trees that he had always known.
“When he got home there was a strange woman cooking and fixing his father’s supper. The table was set, and everything was almost as neat and as tidy as it used to be when his mother was alive. Even his own little plate was in its place, and his mug, with the picture of a blue castle painted on it, was by the plate. But Johnny had no appetite. He went to the door and looked in, and then went to the stable. Once there, he suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to drive the cow in from the pasture. He went running to get her, but found her coming along of her own accord, something she was not in the habit of doing.
A LADY, RICHLY DRESSED, CAME OUT OF THE WOODS
“Johnny wondered a little at this, but it soon passed out of his mind, and he got behind the cow and made her go faster. He drove the cow into the lot, and waited awhile for the woman to come and milk. But she delayed so long that he went to the house and found his father eating supper. Instead of going to the table, he went and sat by the fire.
“‘Have something to eat?’ said the woman.