'Yus; the water run on to me a bit off the little gell,' said Chippy. 'I'll stand up to the kiln, and soon get dry.'
The miller had gone away again, and this time he returned with a jug of steaming tea, two cups and saucers, and a plate heaped high with food.
A drap o' meat an' hot drink will do ye good,' he said, an' ye can peck away while the clo'es do dry.'
Chippy chuckled. 'How's yer tender conscience?' he murmured to the Wolf. 'Fair enough for us to tek' this, ain't it?'
'Fair enough?' cried the astonished miller, who had caught the remark. 'Well, what a man ye must think me! I'd give a bite an' a sup to anybody; an' after what ye've done, I'd pull the house down to please ye.'
'It's aw' right,' cried the Raven hastily. 'I don't mean wot you mean. It was only a bit of a joke wi' my pardner.'
'Oh, ay, a joke—well,' said the miller; 'but ye're welcome, an' more than welcome.'
'How's the little girl coming on?' cried Dick, in order to turn the subject.
'Bravely, bravely,' cried the old man. 'She'd swallowed a tidy drap o' water, an' felt pretty queer. But she's comin' round now. How did ye come to see her?'
Dick related the story of the child's fall, and the old man declared he'd put more rails to the bridge.