ound and stamped on them; and after she had milked the cow, and
drunk as much as she wanted, she threw the rest on the grass, and kicked
the pail to bits, and never heard them say, as they looked after her:
'You shall not have done this to me for nothing!'

Towards evening she reached the spot where the old woman was leaning
against the gate-post, but she passed her by without a word.

'Have you no manners in your country?' asked the crone.

'I can't stop and talk; I am in a hurry,' answered the girl. 'It is
getting late, and I have to find a place.'

'Stop and comb my hair for a little,' said the old woman, 'and I will
help you to get a place.'

'Comb your hair, indeed! I have something better to do than that!' And
slamming the gate in the crone's face she went her way. And she never
heard the words that followed her: 'You shall not have done this to me
for nothing!'

By-and-by the girl arrived at the farm, and she was engaged to look
after the cows and sift the corn as her stepsister had been. But it was
only when someone was watching her that she did her work; at other times
the cow-house was dirty, and the cows ill-fed and beaten, so that they
kicked over the pail, and tried to butt her; and everyone said they had
never seen such thin cows or such poor milk. As for the cats, she chased
them away, and ill-treated them, so that they had not even the spirit to
chase the rats and mice, which nowadays ran about everywhere. And when
the sparrows came to beg for some corn, they fared no better than the
cows and the cats, for the girl threw her shoes at them, till they flew
in a fright to the woods, and took shelter amongst the trees.

Months passed in this manner, when, one day, the mistress called the
girl to her.

'All that I have given you to do you have done ill,' said she, 'yet will
I give you another chance. For though you cannot tend cows, or divide
the grain from the chaff, there may be other things that you can do
better. Therefore take this sieve to the well, and fill it with water,
and see that you bring it back without spilling a drop.'

The girl took the sieve and carried it to the well as her sister had
done; but no little birds came to help her, and after dipping it in the
well two or three times she brought it back empty.

'I thought as much,' said the old woman angrily; 'she that is useless in
one thing is useless in another.'

Perhaps the mistress may have thought that the girl had learnt a le