ht, my dear, and his coat was so
ragged, that they got a new suit, and a linen shirt for him, and laid
them by the bread-and-milk bowl. But when Brownie saw the things, he
put them on, and dancing round the kitchen, sang,

'What have we here? Hemten hamten!
Here will I never more tread nor stampen,'

and so danced through the door, and never came back again."

"O Grandmother! But why not? Didn't he like the new clothes?"

"The Old Owl knows, my dear; I don't."

"Who's the Old Owl, Granny?"

"I don't exactly know, my dear. It's what my mother used to say when we
asked anything that puzzled her. It was said that the Old Owl was Nanny
Besom (a witch, my dear!), who took the shape of a bird, but couldn't
change her voice, and that's why the owl sits silent all day for fear
she should betray herself by speaking, and has no singing voice like
other birds. Many people used to go and consult the Old Owl at
moon-rise, in my young days."

"Did you ever go, Granny?"

"Once, very nearly, my dear."

"Oh! tell us, Granny dear.--There are no Corpse-candles, Johnnie; it's
only moonlight," he added consolingly, as Johnnie crept closer to his
knee, and pricked his little red ears.

"It was when your grandfather was courting me, my dears," said the old
lady, "and I couldn't quite make up my mind. So I went to my mother,
and said, 'He's this on the one side, but then he's that on the other,
and so on. Shall I say yes or no?' And my mother said, 'The Old Owl
knows;' for she was fairly puzzled. So says I, 'I'll go and ask her
to-night, as sure as the moon rises.'

"So at moon-rise I went, and there in the white light by the gate stood
your grandfather. 'What are you doing here at this time o' night?' says
I. 'Watching your window,' says he. 'What are _you_ doing here at this
time o' night?' 'The Old Owl knows,' said I, and burst out
crying."

"What for?" said Johnnie.

"I can't rightly tell you, my dear," said the old lady, "but it gave me
such a turn to see him. And without more ado your grandfather kissed
me. 'How dare you?' said I. 'What do you mean?' 'The Old Owl knows,'
said he. So we never went."

"How stupid!" said Tommy.

"Tell us more about Brownie, please," said Johnnie, "Did he ever live
with anybody else?"

"There are plenty of Brownies," said the old lady, "or used to be in my
mother's young days. Some houses had several." "Oh! I wish ours would
come back!" cried both the boys in chorus. "He'd--