the children plaited rushes and talked to each other,
till, as the sun was sloping down the sky, Woodwender saw that the two
great hogs were missing.

Thinking they must have gone to the forest, the children ran to search
for them. They heard the thrush singing and the wood-doves calling; they
saw the squirrels leaping from branch to branch, and the deer bounding
by. But though they searched for hours, no trace of the hogs could be
seen.

Loveleaves and Woodwender dared not go home without them. Deeper and
deeper they ran into the forest, searching and calling, but all in vain.
And when the woods began to darken with the fall of evening, the
children feared they had lost their way.

It was known that they never feared the forest, nor all the boars and
wolves that were in it. But being weary, they wished for some place of
shelter, and took a green path through the trees, thinking it might lead
to the dwelling of some hermit or forester.

A fairer way Woodwender and Loveleaves had never walked. The grass was
soft and mossy, a hedge of wild roses and honeysuckle grew on either
side, and the red light of the sunset streamed through the tall trees
above. On they went, and it led them straight to a great open dell,
covered with the most lovely flowers, bordered with banks of wild
strawberries, and all overshadowed by a huge oak, the like of which had
never been seen in grove or forest. Its branches were as large as
full-grown trees. Its trunk was wider than a country church, and its
height like that of a castle.

There were mossy seats at its great root, and when the tired children
had gathered as many strawberries as they cared for, they sat down on
one, close by a small spring that bubbled up as clear as crystal. The
mighty oak was covered with thick ivy, in which thousands of birds had
their nests. Woodwender and Loveleaves watched them flying home from all
parts of the forest, and at last they saw a lady coming by the same path
which led them to the dell. She wore a gown of a red colour; her yellow
hair was braided and bound with a red band. In her right hand she
carried a holly branch; but the strangest part of her dress was a pair
of long sleeves, as green as the very grass.

"Who are you," she said, "that sit so late beside my well?"

And the children told her their story, how they had first lost the hogs,
and then their way, and were afraid to go home to the wicked stewards.

"Well," said the lady, "you are t