and trembling in every limb, the poor children
lay down to sleep on a heap of straw in the corner of the hut; but they
dared not close their eyes, and scarcely ventured to breathe. In the
morning the witch gave the girl two pieces of linen to weave before
night, and the boy a pile of wood to cut into chips. Then the witch left
them to their tasks, and went out into the wood. As soon as she had
gone out of sight the children took the comb and the handkerchief, and,
taking one another by the hand, they started and ran, and ran, and ran.
And first they met the watch-dog, who was going to leap on them and tear
them to pieces; but they threw the remains of their bread to him, and
he ate them and wagged his tail. Then they were hindered by the
birch-trees, whose branches almost put their eyes out. But the little
sister tied the twigs together with a piece of ribbon, and they got past
safely, and, after running through the wood, came out on to the open
fields.

In the meantime in the hut the cat was busy weaving the linen and
tangling the threads as it wove. And the witch returned to see how the
children were getting on; and she crept up to the window, and whispered:

'Are you weaving, my little dear?'

'Yes, granny, I am weaving,' answered the cat.

When the witch saw that the children had escaped her, she was furious,
and, hitting the cat with a porringer, she said: 'Why did you let the
children leave the hut? Why did you not scratch their eyes out?'

But the cat curled up its tail and put its back up, and answered: 'I
have served you all these years and you never even threw me a bone, but
the dear children gave me their own piece of ham.'

Then the witch was furious with the watch-dog and with the birch-trees,
because they had let the children pass. But the dog answered:

'I have served you all these years and you never gave me so much as a
hard crust, but the dear children gave me their own loaf of bread.'

And the birch rustled its leaves, and said: 'I have served you longer
than I can say, and you never tied a bit of twine even round my
branches; and the dear children bound them up with their brightest
ribbons.'

So the witch saw there was no help to be got from her old servants, and
that the best thing she could do was to mount on her broom and set off
in pursuit of the children. And as the children ran they heard the sound
of the broom sweeping the ground close behind them, so instantly they
threw the handke