''
``Is he to have one?'' asked the servant lass
who had opened the door.
``Aye, to be sure,'' answered the housewife;
``one must be neighborly.''
But when the maid was taking a saucepan from
the shelf, the housewife pinched her arm and
whispered sharply: ``Not that, you good-for-
nothing! Get the old one out of the cupboard.
It leaks, and the Hillmen are so neat, and such
nimble workers, that they are sure to mend it
before they send it home. So one obliges the
Fairy People, and saves sixpence in tinkering!''
Thus bidden the maid fetched the saucepan,
which had been laid by until the tinker's next
visit, and gave it to the Hillman, who thanked
her and went away.
In due time the saucepan was returned, and,
as the housewife had foreseen, it was neatly
mended and ready for use.
At supper-time the maid filled the pan with
milk, and set it on the fire for the children's
supper. But in a few minutes the milk was so burnt
and smoked that no one could touch it, and even
the pigs refused to drink it.
``Ah, good-for-nothing hussy!'' cried the
housewife, as she refilled the pan herself, ``you would
ruin the richest with your carelessness! There's
a whole quart of good milk wasted at once!''
``AND THAT'S TWOPENCE!'' cried a voice that
seemed to come from the chimney, in a whining
tone, like some discontented old body going over
her grievances.
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