willow tree that hung over her, stooped
down, and gently stroked her fingers. The child understood that he
meant to be kind, and letting her hands fall, gazed at her captors.
After an instant's pause she said:

'Little men, it is a great pity that you are so ugly. But, all the
same, I will love you if you will only give me something to eat, as I
am dying of hunger.'

A rustle was heard among the group as she spoke. Some were very angry
at being called ugly, and said she deserved no better fate than to be
left where she was. Others laughed, and declared that it did not
matter what a mere mortal thought about them; while Tad bade Bog,
their messenger, fetch her some milk and honey, and the finest white
bread that was made in their ovens under the earth. In less time than
Abeille would have taken to tie her shoe he was back again, mounted on
his crow. And by the time she had eaten the bread and honey and drunk
the milk, Abeille was not frightened any more, and felt quite ready to
talk.

'Little men,' she said, looking up with a smile, 'your supper was very
good, and I thank you for it. My name is Abeille, and my brother is
called Youri. Help me to find him, and tell me which is the path that
leads to the castle, for mother must think something dreadful has
happened to us!'

'But your feet are so sore that you cannot walk,' answered Dig. 'And
we may not cross the bounds into your country. The best we can do is
to make a litter of twigs and cover it with moss, and we will bear you
into the mountains, and present you to our king.'

Now, many a little girl would have been terrified at the thought of
being carried off alone, she did not know where. But Abeille, when she
had recovered from her first fright, was pleased at the notion of her
strange adventure.

'How much she would have to tell her mother and Youri on her return.
Probably _they_ would never go inside a mountain, if they lived to be
a hundred.' So she curled herself comfortably on her nest of moss, and
waited to see what would happen.

Up, and up, and up they went; and by-and-by Abeille fell asleep again,
and did not wake till the sun was shining. Up, and up, and up, for the
little men could only walk very slowly, though they could spring over
rocks quicker than any mortal. Suddenly the light that streamed
through the branches of the litter began to change. It seemed hardly
less bright, but it was certainly different; then the litter was put
down, and the