She ran for some distance along the edge of the river, watching it,
until she was stopped by two ladies, so beautiful that she had never
seen anything like them before. Though there was no rain, and they
were walking under the trees in the shadow, they held parasols, on
which the sun gleamed through the green leaves, looking like glowing
coins raining down on to their parasols. They kneeled in front of
Ditte as if she were a little princess, lifting her bare feet and
peeping under the soles, as they questioned her.

Well, her name was Ditte. Ditte Mischief and Ditte Goodgirl--and
Ditte child o' Man!

The ladies looked at each other and laughed, and asked her where she
lived.

In Granny's house, of course.

"What Granny?" asked the stupid ladies again.

Ditte stamped her little bare foot on the grass:

"Oh, Granny! that's blind sometimes 'cos she cries so much. Ditte's
own Granny."

Then they pretended to be much wiser, and asked her to go home with
them for a little while. Ditte gave her little hand trustingly to
one of them and trotted along; she did not mind seeing if they lived
on the other side of the river--with the Lord. Then it would be
angels she had met.

They went along the river; Ditte, impatient with excitement, thought
it would never end. At last they came to a footbridge, arched across
the river. At the end of the bridge was a barred gate with railings
on each side, which it was impossible to climb over or under. The
ladies opened the gate with a key and carefully locked it again, and
Ditte found herself in a most beautiful garden. By the path stood
lovely flowers in clusters, red and blue, swaying their pretty
heads; and on low bushes were delicious large red berries such as
she had never tasted before.

Ditte knew at once that this was Paradise. She threw herself against
one of the ladies, her mouth red with the juice of the berries,
looking up at her with an unfathomable expression in her dark blue
eyes and said: "Am I dead now?"

The ladies laughed and took her into the house, through beautiful
rooms where one walked on thick soft shawls with one's boots on. In
the innermost room a little lady was sitting in an armchair. She was
white-haired and wrinkled and had spectacles on her nose; and wore
a white nightcap in spite of it being the middle of the day. "This
is our Granny!" said one of the ladies.

"Grandmother, look, we have caught a little wood goblin," they
shouted into the old la