I
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Mabie, Hamilton Wright, Forbush, William Byron, and Hale, Edward Everett
"C
HILDREN are a burden," said the tailor, as he sat on his bench stitching away.
"Children are a blessing," said the kind lady in the window.
It was the tailor's mother who spoke. She was a very old woman and nearly helpless. All day she sat in a large armchair knitting rugs.
"What have my two lads ever done to help me?" continued the tailor, sadly. "They do nothing but play. If I send Tommy on an errand, he loiters. If I ask him to work, he does it so unwillingly that I would rather do it myself. Since their mother died I have indeed had a hard time."
At this moment the two boys came in, their arms full of moss which they dropped on the floor.
"Is there any supper, grandmother?" asked Tommy.
"No, my child, only some bread for breakfast to-morrow."
"Oh, grandmother, we are so hungry!" and the boy's eyes filled with tears.
"What can I do for you, my poor children?" said the good woman.
"Tell us a story, please, so that we can forget we are hungry. Tell us about the brownie that used to live in your grandfather's house. What was he like?"
"Like a little man, they say."
"What did he do?"
"He came early in the morning before any one in the house was awake, and lighted the fire and swept the room and set out the breakfast. He never would be seen and was off before they could catch him. But they often heard him laughing and playing about the house."
"Did they give him any wages, grandmother?"
"No, my dear, he did the work for love. They always set [page 518] a pan of clear water for him, and now and then a bowl of bread and milk."
"Oh, grandmother, where did he go?"
"The Old Owl in the woods knows; I do not. When I was young many people used to go to see the Old Owl at moon-rise, and ask her what they wanted to know."
"How I wish a brownie would come and live with us!" cried Tommy.
"So do I," said Johnny.
"Will you let us set out a pan of water for the brownie, father?" asked Tommy.
"You may set out what you like, my lad, but you must go to bed now."
The boys brought out a pan of water. Then they climbed the ladder to the loft over the kitchen.
Johnny was soon in the land of dreams, but Tommy lay awake thinking how he could find a brownie and get him to live in the house. "There is an owl that lives in the grove," he thought. "It may be the Old Owl herself. When the moon rises, I'll go and find her."