y in his father's house. They thought he would forget to call
himself Edwy, or to cry, "Oh, mamma, mamma, papa, papa! come to little
Edwy!" as he so often did. They taught him that his name was not Edwy,
but Jack, or Tom, or some such name. And they made him say "mam" and
"dad" and call himself the gypsy boy, born in a barn.

But after he had learned all these words, whenever anything hurt or
frightened him, he would cry again, "Mamma, papa, come to Edwy!"

The gypsies could not take him out with them while there was a danger of
his crying like that. So he never went with them on their rounds of
begging and buying rags and telling fortunes. Instead, he was left in
the hut, in the valley, with some big girl or old woman to look after
him.

It happened one day, in the month of May, that Edwy was left as usual in
the hut. He had been up before sunrise to breakfast with those who were
going out for their day's begging and stealing. After they had left, he
had fallen asleep on a bed of dry leaves. Only one old woman, who was
too lame to tramp, was left with him.

He slept long, and when he awoke he sat up on his bed of leaves and
looked about him to see who was with him. He saw no one within the hut,
and no one at the doorway.

Little children do not like to be quite alone. Edwy listened to hear if
there were any voices outside, but he heard nothing but the rush of a
waterfall close by, and the distant cry of sheep and lambs. The next
thing the little one did was to get up and go out at the door of the
hut.

The hut was built of rude rafters in the front of a cave or hole in the
rock. It was low down in the glen, at the edge of the brook, a little
below the waterfall. When the child came out he looked anxiously for
somebody, and was more and more frightened when he could find no one at
all.

The old woman must have been close at hand although out of sight, but
she was deaf, and did not hear the noise made by the child when he came
out of the hut.

Edwy did not remember how long he stood by the brook, but this is
certain, that the longer he felt himself to be alone the more frightened
he became. Then he began to fancy terrible things. At the top of the
rock from which the waters fell there was a huge old yew-tree, or rather
bush, which hung forward over the fall. It looked very black in
comparison with the tender green of the other trees, and the white,
glittering spray of the water.

Edwy looked at it and fancied