Hor de mussen wingen'

under the sprig of dill, every one envious, or evil-disposed, who
attempts to enter the house, will have to stop short, just where they
are, and stand there; they cannot move."

"What does the verse mean?" asked Nan, with great eyes.

"That, I do not know. It is written in a foreign language. But it is a
powerful charm."

"O mother, will you write it off for me, if I will bring you a bit of
paper and a pen?"

"Certainly," replied her mother, and wrote it off when Nan brought pen
and paper.

"Now," said she, "you must run off and play again, and not hinder me
any longer, or I shall not get my butter made to-day."

So Nan danced away with the verse, and the sprig of dill, and her
mother went on churning.

She had a beautiful tall stone churn, with the sides all carved with
figures in relief. There were milkmaids and cows as natural as life
all around the churn. The dairy was charming too. The shelves were
carved stone; and the floor had a little silvery rill running right
through the middle of it, with green ferns at the sides. All along the
stone shelves were set pans full of yellow cream, and the pans were
all of solid silver, with a chasing of buttercups and daisies around