THE ELDERBUSH
Once upon a time there was a little boy who had taken cold. He had gone out and got his feet wet; though nobody could imagine how it had happened, for it was quite dry weather. So his mother undressed him, put him to bed, and had the tea-pot brought in, to make him a good cup of Elderflower tea. Just at that moment the merry old man came in who lived up a-top of the house all alone; for he had neither wife nor children—but he liked children very much, and knew so many fairy tales, that it was quite delightful.
“ Now drink your tea,” said the boy's mother; “then, perhaps, you may hear a fairy tale.”
“ If I had but something new to tell,” said the old man. “But how did the child get his feet wet?”
“ That is the very thing that nobody can make out,” said his mother.
“
