' stockins
for more nor a week. He'd doze a bit i' his chair by t' fire, an' then
he'd wakken up an' leet t' lantern' an' gan out to see if aught ailed t'
sheep. He let me bide up for company, an' so as I could warm him a sup
o' tea ower t' fire. But when t' gran'father's clock strake fower he
said I mun away to my bed. He'd tak a turn round t' croft, an' then he'd
set off wi' his budget to t' mistal to milk t' cows. But I didn't want
to gan to bed. I'd bin sleepin' off an' on all t' neet, an' I weren't
feelin' a lile bit tired. So when my father had set off I went to t'
door an' looked out. My song! but 'twere a grand neet. T' mooin were
just turned full, an' were leetin' up all t' scars an' plats o' meadow;
t' becks were just like silver an' t' owd yew-trees that grow on t' face
o' t' scar had lang shadows as black as pick. I stood theer on t'
door-sill for mebbe five minutes an' then I said to misel, I'll just run
down as far as Janet's Cove afore I gan to bed.' It were a bit cowd, so
I lapped my shawl around my head an' set off.

"'Twere nobbut a two-three minutes' walk, an' afore vara lang I were
sittin' anent t' rocks, an' t' mooin were glisterin' through t'
esh-trees on to t' watter. Efter a while I felt a bit sleepy; 'twere t'
nippy air, an' mebbe t' seet o' t' fallin' watter dazed my een.
Onygates, I fell asleep an' slept for better pairt of an hour. When I
wakkened t' mooin were well-nigh settin', an' I could see that t'
cockleet were coomin' away i' t' east. So I reckoned I'd get back to my
bed. But just then I saw summat movin' about on t' other side o' t'
beck. At first I thowt it were nobbut a sheep, but when I'd keeked at it
a bit langer I knew it weren't a sheep at all; 'twere a lass o' about t'
same size as misel."

At this point in the story alertness of mind was depicted on the face of
every listener. Joe Moon's tongue, as agile as a lizard's, had up to now
been revolving like a windmill round the lower half of his face,
questing after treacly crumbs which had adhered to his cheeks; but at
the mention of the girl by the waterfall it ceased from its labours, and
the tightly closed mouth and straining eyes showed that he was not
losing a word.

"Queerest thing about t' lass were this," Grannie continued, "shoo were
nakt, as nakt as ony hen-egg, an' that at five o'clock on a frosty April
morn. Eh! but it made me dither to see her stannin' theer wi' niver a
shift to her back. Well, I crept close to t'