So she gave him more and more food, and every day he put out the stick till at last one day he got careless, and when she took the stick it fell out of his hand, and she felt what it was. So she flew into a terrible rage and called out,
"Grizzle, Grizzle, make the oven hot. This lad is fat enough for Christmas."
Poor Grizzle did not know what to do, but she had to obey the witch. So she piled the wood on under the oven and set it alight. And after a while the old witch said to her,
"Grizzle, Grizzle, is the oven hot?"
And Grizzle said, "I don't know, mum."
And when the witch asked her again whether it was hot enough, Grizzle said,
"I do not know how hot an oven ought to be."
"Get away, get away," said the old witch; "I know, let me see." And she poked her old head into the oven. Then Grizzle pushed her right into the oven and closed the door and rushed out into the back yard and let Johnnie out of the cubby-hole.
Then Johnnie and Grizzle ran away towards the setting sun where they knew their own house was, till at last they came to a broad stream too deep for them to wade. But just at that moment they looked back, and what do you think they saw? The old witch, by some means or other, had got out of the oven and was rushing after them. What were they to do? What were they to do?
Suddenly Grizzle saw a fine big duck swimming towards them, and she called out: