“Come, quick,” cried the mother, “and hide yourself in the dough trough so that she may not see you.”
Buttercup jumped into the dough trough and his mother shut the lid, so that no one would have known he was there.
Then in a moment there was a knock at the door, and the old witch opened it and looked in. She had put her head on where it belonged now, and she looked almost like any old woman.
“Good-day, daughter,” said she.
“Good-day, mother,” answered the woman.
“May I come in and rest my bones a bit?”
The woman did not want her to come in, but neither did she like to say no. “Come in, in heaven’s name.”
The old witch entered and sat down on the settle, and then she began to look and peer about the room.
“Have you no children?” she asked.