“I suppose it is time for me to go,” said Colin.
“Yes, it is,” answered his hostess.
“Please tell me, then, how I am to dream three days without sleeping.”
“That’s over,” said the old woman. “You’ve just finished that part. I told you I would help you all I could.”
“Have I been here three days, then?” asked Colin in astonishment.
“And nights too. And I and Jenny and the spindle are quite tired and want to sleep. Jenny has got three eggs to lay besides. Make haste, my boy.”
“Please, then, tell me what I am to do next.”
“Jenny will put you in the way. When you come where you are going, you will tell them that the old woman with the spindle desires them to lift Cumberbone Crag a yard higher, and to send a flue under Stonestarvit Moss. Jenny, show Colin the way.”
Jenny came out with a surly cluck and led him a good way across the heath by a path only a hen could have found. But she turned suddenly and walked home again.