Page:Christmas Fireside Stories.djvu/169

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Legends of the Mill. 157 " ' Have you ever seen such a jaw ? ' said the goblin. " The man ran for the pot and pitched the boiling tar into the gaping jaw, and said, ' Have you ever felt anything so hot ? ' n The goblin uttered a terrible shriek, and let go the wheel. He has never been seen or heard there after that time, nor has the mill foeen stopped since/' " Yes," said the boy, who had listened to my story with a mix ture of fear and curiosity ; " I have heard my grandmother tell that story, and she used also to tell another about a mill-goblin some where up in the country, where no one could get anything ground at the mill, it was so bewitched. But one evening came a beggar woman, who badly wanted to get a little corn ground, and she asked i f she could not get leave to stay there for the night and do it. " ' Oh,dearno!' saidtheownerofthe mill; 'you can't staythere at night ; neither you nor the mill would have any peace for the goblin.' But the beggar-woman wanted so badly to get her corn ground, for she had not a spoonful of meal to make either soup or porridge for the children at home. Well, at last she got leave to go into the mill and grind her corn at night. When she came there, she made a fire on the hearth, where a big pot of tar was hanging. She started the mill, and sat down by the hearth with her knitting. In a while a girl came into the mill and said ' Good evening ' to her. " ' Good evening,' answered the beggar-woman, and went on with her knitting. " But very soon the strange girl began raking the fire out over the hearth, but the beggar-woman raked it together again. " ' What's your nåme ? ' said the fairy, as you already will have guessed that the strange girl was. " ' My nåme is Self ! ' answered the beggar-woman. " The girl thought that was a strange nåme, and began raking the fire about again. This made the beggar-woman angry, and she began scolding and raking the fire together. They were thus employed for some time, when the beggar-woman, watching her opportunity, upset the boiling tar over the girl, who began