cannot imagine
what put this idea into your head. Did you think of it yourself?"

"No, I cannot say that I did," answered Old Pipes. "A little dwarf whom
I met in the woods proposed it to me."

"Oh!" cried the Dryad; "now I see through it all. It is the scheme of
that vile Echo-dwarf--your enemy and mine. Where is he? I should like to
see him."

"I think he has gone away," said Old Pipes.

"No, he has not," said the Dryad, whose quick eyes perceived the
Echo-dwarf among the rocks, "there he is. Seize him and drag him out, I
beg of you."

Old Pipes saw the dwarf as soon as he was pointed out to him; and
running to the rocks, he caught the little fellow by the arm and pulled
him out.

"Now, then," cried the Dryad, who had opened the door of the great oak,
"just stick him in there, and we will shut him up. Then I shall be safe
from his mischief for the rest of the time I am free."

Old Pipes thrust the Echo-dwarf into the tree; the Dryad pushed the door
shut; there was a clicking sound of bark and wood, and no one would have
noticed that the big oak had ever had an opening in it.

"There," said the Dryad; "now we need not be afraid of him. And I assure
you, my good piper, that I shall be very glad to make your mother
younger as soon as I can. Will you not ask her to come out and meet me?"

"Of course I will," cried Old Pipes; "and I will do it without delay."

And then, the Dryad by his side, he hurried to his cottage. But when he
mentioned the matter to his mother, the old woman became very angry
indeed. She did not believe in Dryads; and, if they really did exist,
she knew they must be witches and sorceresses, and she would have
nothing to do with them. If her son had ever allowed himself to be
kissed by one of them, he ought to be ashamed of himself. As to its
doing him the least bit of good, she did not believe a word of it. He
felt better than he used to feel, but that was very common. She had
sometimes felt that way herself, and she forbade him ever to mention a
Dryad to her again.

That afternoon, Old Pipes, feeling very sad that his plan in regard to
his mother had failed, sat down upon the rock and played upon his pipes.
The pleasant sounds went down the valley and up the hills and mountain,
but, to the great surprise of some persons who happened to notice the
fact, the notes were not echoed back from the rocky hill-side, but from
the woods on the side of the valley on which Old Pipes lived. The next