le
fellow, something like a little man. Oohoo! oohoo! Are you quite sure
you didn't see him?"

"Quite," answered Tommy sharply. "I saw no one but myself."

"Hoot! toot! How touchy we are! And who are you, pray?"

"I'm not a Brownie," said Tommy.

"Don't be too sure," said the Owl. "Did you find out the word?"

"No," said Tommy. "I could find no word with any meaning that would
rhyme but 'myself.'"

"Well, that runs and rhymes," said the Owl. "What do you want? Where's
your brother now?"

"In bed in the malt-loft," said Tommy.

"Then now all your questions are answered," said the Owl, "and you know
what wants doing, so go and do it. Good-night, or rather good-morning,
for it is long past midnight;" and the old lady began to shake her
feathers for a start.

"Don't go yet, please," said Tommy humbly. "I don't understand it. You
know I'm not a Brownie, am I?"

"Yes, you are," said the Owl, "and a very idle one too. All children
are Brownies."

"But I couldn't do work like a Brownie," said Tommy.

"Why not?" inquired the Owl. "Couldn't you sweep the floor, light the
fire, spread the table, tidy the room, fetch the turf, pick up your own
chips, and sort your grandmother's scraps? You know 'there's lots to
do.'"

"But I don't think I should like it," said Tommy. "I'd much rather have
a Brownie to do it for me."

"And what would you do meanwhile?" asked the Owl. "Be idle, I suppose;
and what do you suppose is the use of a man's having children if they
do nothing to help him? Ah! if they only knew how every one would love
them if they made themselves useful!"

"But is it really and truly so?" asked Tommy, in a dismal voice. "Are
there no Brownies but children?"

"No, there are not," said the Owl. "And pray do you think that the
Brownies, whoever they may be, come into the house to save trouble for
the idle healthy little boys who live in it? Listen to me, Tommy," said
the old lady, her eyes shooting rays of fire in the dark corner where
she sat. "Listen to me, you are a clever boy, and can understand when
one speaks; so I will tell you the whole history of the Brownies, as it
has been handed down in our family from my grandmother's
great-grandmother, who lived in the Druid's Oak, and was intimate with
the fairies. And when I have done you shall tell me what you think they
are, if they are not children. It's the opinion I have come to at any
rate, and I don't think that wisdom died with our great-grandmother