d hoped.

The hall was dark, and old-fashioned furniture sat along the walls. A
spidery staircase with dark wood bannisters rose steeply from one side
and wound away out of sight. At the far end of the hall was a great
friendly grandfather's clock with a broad round face.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock," said the clock in a deep mellow voice. Hortense
thought he said, "Welcome, welcome," and was sure he winked at her.

"I must make him talk to me," thought Hortense. "He seems a very wise
old clock. How many interesting things he must know."

A middle-aged woman with a kind face came to meet them.

"Mary, this is my little granddaughter," said Grandmother; and to
Hortense, "Mary will take care of you and show you your room. When you
have taken your things off, come downstairs and we will have tea."

Hortense followed Mary up the steep, winding stairs to the second
floor. Mary opened one of the many doors of the long hallway, and
Hortense followed her into a large old-fashioned room with a great
four-poster bed. It was a corner room. Through the windows on one side
Hortense could look out over the orchard slope that ran down to the
brook. Beyond the brook rose a shadowy mountain whose side was so steep
that trees could hardly find a foothold among the rocks. On the other
side of the room, the windows opened upon the lawn bordered by a hedge.
Beyond the hedge was the little house in front of which Hortense had
seen the boy, but he was no longer playing in the yard.

A big man carried up Hortense's trunk and placed it in the corner. He
had bright blue eyes. Mary introduced him to Hortense.

"This is my husband, Fergus," said she. "We live in the little house
beyond the orchard. You must come to see us sometime and have tea. My
husband will tell you stories of the Little People."

"The Little People are fairies, aren't they, who live in Ireland?" said
Hortense, remembering her fairy tales.

"Not only in Ireland," said Fergus, "but everywhere in woods and
mountains. Do you see that dark place in the rocks halfway up the
mountain?"

Hortense looked as directed and thought she saw the place.

"That's the mouth of a cave that goes into the mountain, nobody knows
how far," said Fergus. "It is certain that the Little People must live
in there."

His eyes twinkled, but his face was quite serious.

"Really?" Hortense asked.

"I've not seen them," said Fergus, "but my eyes are older than yours. I
do not doubt that you will