But all at once, as she sat there, in came an old woman to her.

'What ails you, child?' she said.

'Ah!' said the lassie, with a deep sigh, 'it's no good to tell you,
for you'll never be able to help me.'

'Who knows?' said the old wife. 'May be I know how to help you after
all.'

Well, thought the lassie to herself, I may as well tell her, and so
she told her how her fellow-servants had given out that she was good
to spin a pound of flax in four and twenty hours.

'And here am I, wretch that I am, shut up to spin all that heap in a
day and a night, when I have never even seen a spinning-wheel in all
my born days.'

'Well, never mind, child', said the old woman. 'If you'll call me
Aunt on the happiest day of your life, I'll spin this flax for you,
and so you may just go away and lie down to sleep.'

Yes, the lassie was willing enough, and off she went and lay down to
sleep.

Next morning when she awoke, there lay all the flax spun on the
table, and that so clean and fine, no one had ever seen such even and
pretty yarn. The queen was very glad to get such nice yarn, and she
set greater store by the lassie than ever. But the rest were still