went straight towards
him, made him a curtsey, as she had been taught to do, and said:--

"'Please, sir, where is my nurse's house?'

"The old man raised his head and glanced all around. 'I see no nurse's
house,' he replied.

"Then, after a little while the old man said: 'My dear, give me a
drink of water.'

[Illustration: THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE OLD MAN]

"The little girl looked all around. 'I see no water,' she replied.

"'Well said, well said!' exclaimed the old man. 'You are very bright
and very beautiful, therefore I'll give you some advice. There is a
spring by yonder tree, but you must not drink the water. There is a
pomegranate-tree growing by the spring, but you must eat none of the
fruit.'

"Having said this, the old man slung his wallet over his back and went
on his way. The little girl went to the spring and looked at the
water. Then she looked at the beautiful red fruit growing on the
pomegranate-tree. She was very thirsty, very hungry, and very tired.
She thought to herself that the old man was very mean and stingy.
'He's afraid I'll muddy the water,' she said, 'and he wants all the
pomegranates for himself.'

"Then she drank from the spring, and the water was very sweet and
cool. She ate the fruit of the pomegranate-tree, and it was delicious.
Then being tired, she stretched herself out on the grass and was soon
sound asleep.

"Now it so happened," continued Mrs. Meadows, pretending to examine
the stitches in Sweetest Susan's frock "that the spring and the
pomegranate-tree were under a spell. They belonged to an old Conjurer
who lived in a cave close by. In this cave he had a large bowl of
water on a shelf, and near it, growing in a box, was a little
pomegranate-bush. Whenever anybody drank from the spring, the water in
the bowl would shake and tremble and become muddy; and whenever a
pomegranate was pulled from the big bush by the spring, the little
bush in the Conjurer's cave would bend and wave its limbs as if a gale
were blowing.

"All this occurred when the little girl drank from the spring and
pulled and ate one of the pomegranates; and by the time she was sound
asleep, the Conjurer had come out of his cave and discovered her. He
waited a little while, and then took the child and carried her to his
cave, and it was many a long day before anybody, except the Conjurer
himself, saw her again."

At this point Mrs. Meadows paused.

XVIII.

MRS. MEADOWS RESUMES HER STORY.

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