to set me free?"

And the mother answered:

"I've neither brought thy golden ball
Nor come to set thee free,
But I have come to see thee hung
Upon this gallows-tree."

Then the hangman said, "Now, lass, say thy prayers for thou must die."
But she said:

"Stop, stop, I think I see my father coming!
O father, hast thou brought my golden ball
And come to set me free?"

And the father answered:

"I've neither brought thy golden ball
Nor come to set thee free,
But I have come to see thee hung
Upon this gallows-tree."

Then the hangman said, "Hast thee done thy prayers? Now, lass, put thy
head into the noose."

But she answered, "Stop, stop, I think I see my brother coming!" And
again she sang her little verse, and the brother sang back the same
words. And so with her sister, her uncle, her aunt, and her cousin. But
they all said the same:

"I've neither brought thy golden ball
Nor come to set thee free,
But I have come to see thee hung
Upon this gallows-tree."

Then the hangman said, "I will stop no longer, thou'rt making game of
me. Thou must be hung at once."

But now, at long last, she saw her sweetheart coming through the crowd,
so she cried to him:

"Stop, stop, I see my sweetheart coming!
Sweetheart, hast thou brought my golden ball
And come to set me free?"

Then her sweetheart held up her golden ball and cried:

"Aye, I have brought to thee thy golden ball
And come to set thee free;
I have not come to see thee hung
Upon this gallows-tree."

So he took her home, then and there, and they lived happy ever after.

THE TWO SISTERS

Once upon a time there were two sisters who were as like each other as
two peas in a pod; but one was good, and the other was bad-tempered. Now
their father had no work, so the girls began to think of going to
service.

"I will go first and see what I can make of it," said the younger
sister, ever so cheerfully, "then you, sis, can follow if I have good
luck."

So she packed up a bundle, said good-bye, and started to find a place;
but no one in the town wanted a girl, and she went farther afield into
the country. And as she journeyed she came upon an oven in which a lot
of loaves were baking. Now as she passed, the loaves cried out with one
voice:

"Little girl! Little girl! Take us out! Please take us out! We have been
baking for seven years, and no one has come to take