sprig of dill wrapped round with the bit of paper on which was written
the charm-verse:

"Alva, aden, winira mir,
Villawissen lingen;
Sanchta, wanchta, attazir,
Hor de mussen wingen."




BROWNIE AND THE COOK

By Mrs. Dinah Mulock Craik


There was once a little Brownie, who lived--where do you think he
lived?--in a coal cellar.

Now a coal cellar may seem a most curious place to choose to live in;
but then a Brownie is a curious creature--a fairy and yet not one of
that sort of fairies who fly about on gossamer wings, and dance in the
moonlight, and so on. He never dances; and as to wings, what use would
they be to him in a coal cellar? He is a sober, stay-at-home,
household elf--nothing much to look at, even if you did see him, which
you are not likely to do--only a little old man, about a foot high,
all dressed in brown, with a brown face and hands, and a brown peaked
cap, just the color of a brown mouse. And, like a mouse, he hides in
corners--especially kitchen corners, and only comes out after dark
when nobody is about, and so sometimes people call him Mr. Nobody.