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Now hereupon Beltane rose and stood upon his feet, staring wide-eyed at this grim-faced stranger who, with milk-bowl at lip, paused to smile his wry smile. "Aha!" said he, "hast heard such a name ere now, even here in the greenwood?"

He spake to Face-of-god: 'Dawn is in the sky, Dalesman; there is yet time for thee to wash the night off of thee in our bath of the Shivering Flood and to put thy mouth to the milk-bowl; but time for nought else: for I and Bow-may are appointed thy fellows for the road, and it were well that we were back home speedily.

"I only carried her from the Gate. Neighbour Ursula, she bare her all the way." "Thou'rt an honest lass," said Mrs Wade, patting Cissy on the head. "There, eat that." And she put a large slice of bread into the hand of both Will and Cissy, setting a goodly bowl of milk on the table between them. "That's good!" commented Will, attacking the milk-bowl immediately.

"There's no chance, I suppose, of your looking in on the loft about two. Some of our young people are going to amuse themselves with a new sacque- dance best white flour only," said the Black Rat. "I believe I am officially supposed not to countenance that sort of thing, but youth is youth. ... By the way, the humans set my milk-bowl in the loft these days; I hope your youngsters respect it."

The grandmother was silent, and Heidi now began to give her a lively description of her life with the grandfather, and of the days she spent on the mountain with the goats, and then went on to tell her of what she did now during the winter, and how her grandfather was able to make all sorts of things, seats and stools, and mangers where the hay was put for Little Swan and Little Bear, besides a new large water-tub for her to bathe in when the summer came, and a new milk-bowl and spoon, and Heidi grew more and more animated as she enumerated all the beautiful things which were made so magically out of pieces of wood; she then told the grandmother how she stood by him and watched all he did, and how she hoped some day to be able to make the same herself.

Jacob, the horrible Jacob, had an awkward trick of getting up before everybody else, to stem his hunger by emptying the milk-bowl that was "duly set" for him; but of late he had taken to sleeping in the hay-loft, and if he came into the house, it would be on the opposite side to that from which David was making his exit.

"Ha!" quoth Sir Benedict, setting down his milk-bowl, "what know you of Duke Beltane?" "Nought but that he was a great and lusty fighter who yet loved peace and mercy, but truth and justice most of all." "And to-day," sighed Sir Benedict, "to-day we have Black Ivo! Aye me! these be sorry days for Pentavalon. 'Tis said he woos the young Duchess yonder. Hast ever seen Helen of Mortain, sir smith?"