ought that I had seen a Dryad; but when I sat down by
that big oak tree I must have gone to sleep and dreamed it all; and then
I came home, thinking I had given the money to a Dryad, when it was in
my pocket all the time. But the Chief Villager shall have the money. I
shall not take it to him to-day, but to-morrow I wish to go to the
village to see some of my old friends; and then I shall give up the
money."

Toward the close of the afternoon, Old Pipes, as had been his custom for
so many years, took his pipes from the shelf on which they lay, and went
out to the rock in front of the cottage.

"What are you going to do?" cried his mother. "If you will not consent
to be paid, why do you pipe?"

"I am going to pipe for my own pleasure," said her son. "I am used to
it, and I do not wish to give it up. It does not matter now whether the
cattle hear me or not, and I am sure that my piping will injure no one."

When the good man began to play upon his favorite instrument he was
astonished at the sound that came from it. The beautiful notes of the
pipes sounded clear and strong down into the valley, and spread over the
hills, and up the sides of the mountain beyond, while, after a little
interval, an echo came back from the rocky hill on the other side of the
valley.

"Ha! ha!" he cried, "what has happened to my pipes? They must have been
stopped up of late, but now they are as clear and good as ever."

Again the merry notes went sounding far and wide. The cattle on the
mountain heard them, and those that were old enough remembered how these
notes had called them from their pastures every evening, and so they
started down the mountain-side, the others following.

The merry notes were heard in the village below, and the people were
much astonished thereby. "Why, who can be blowing the pipes of Old
Pipes?" they said. But, as they were all very busy, no one went up to
see. One thing, however, was plain enough: the cattle were coming down
the mountain. And so the two boys and the girl did not have to go after
them, and had an hour for play, for which they were very glad.

The next morning Old Pipes started down to the village with his money,
and on the way he met the Dryad. "Oh, ho!" he cried, "is that you? Why,
I thought my letting you out of the tree was nothing but a dream."

"A dream!" cried the Dryad; "if you only knew how happy you have made
me, you would not think it merely a dream. And has it not benefited you?
D