“A-why,” says he, “I was out a-hunting to-day, and I got away to a place in the wood I’d never seen before. And there was an old chalk-pit. And I heard a kind of a sort of humming. So I got off my hobby, and I went right quiet to the pit, and I looked down. Well, what should there be but the funniest little black thing you ever set eyes on. And what was that doing, but that had a little spinning-wheel, and that was spinning wonderful fast, and twirling that’s tail. And as that span that sang:
“Nimmy nimmy not,
My name’s Tom Tit Tot.”
Well, when the girl heard this, she felt as if she could have jumped out of her skin for joy, but she didn’t say a word.
Next day that there little thing looked so maliceful when he came for the flax. And when night came, she heard that knocking against the window-panes. She oped the window, and that come right in on the ledge. That was grinning from ear to ear, and Oo! that’s tail was twirling round so fast.
“What’s my name?” that says, as that gave her the skeins.
“Is that Solomon?” she says, pretending to be afeard.
“Noo, ‘tain’t,” that says, and that came farther into the room.
“Well, is that Zebedee?” says she again.
“Noo, ‘tain’t,” says the impet. And then that laughed and twirled that’s tail till you couldn’t hardly see it.