hey feasted noisily, and spent the
remainder of the night in drinking and dancing. Two of them were
appointed to keep guard, in order to give the company due warning of the
approach either of anybody or of the day. Three times they went out,
always returning with the news that they saw neither the approach of any
human being, nor yet of the break of day.

But when the man-servant suspected the night to be pretty far spent, he
jumped from his place of concealment into the room, and clashing the two
planks together with as much noise as he could make, shouted like a
madman, "The day! the day! the day!"

On these words the whole company rose scared from their seats, and
rushed headlong out, leaving behind them not only their tables, and all
the silver dishes, but even the very clothes they had taken off for ease
in dancing. In the hurry of flight many were wounded and trodden under
foot, while the rest ran into the darkness, the man-servant after them,
clapping the planks together and shrieking, "The day! the day! the day!"
until they came to a large lake, into which the whole party plunged
headlong and disappeared.

From this the man knew them to be water-elves.

Then he returned home, gathered the corpses of the elves who had been
killed in the flight, killed the wounded ones, and, making a great heap
of them all, burned them. When he had finished this task, he cleaned up
the house and took possession of all the treasures the elves had left
behind them.

On the farmer's return, his servant told him all that had occurred, and
showed him the spoils. The farmer praised him for a brave fellow, and
congratulated him on having escaped with his life. The man gave him half
the treasures of the elves, and ever afterward prospered exceedingly.

This was the last visit the water-elves ever paid to _that_ house.

THE CROSSWAYS

It is supposed that among the hills there are certain cross-roads, from
the centre of which you can see four churches, one at the end of
each road.

If you sit at the crossing of these roads on Christmas Eve (or as others
say, on New Year's Eve), elves come from every direction and cluster
round you, and ask you, with all sorts of blandishments and fair
promises, to go with them; but you must continue silent. Then they bring
to you rarities and delicacies of every description, gold, silver, and
precious stones, meats and wines, of which they beg you to accept; but
you must neither move a limb nor