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hew down the great trees, and chop them up into firewood for the poor. Neither hedge nor ditch divided their lands, but these lords never disputed. They had been friends from their youth. Their ladies had died long ago, but the Lord of the Grey Castle had a little son, and the Lord of the White a little daughter; and when they feasted in each other’s halls it was their custom to say, ‘When our children grow up they will marry, and have our castles and our lands, and keep our friendship in memory.’

“So the lords and their little children, and tenants, lived happily till one Michaelmas night, as they were all feasting in the hall of the White Castle, there came a traveller to the gate, who was welcomed and feasted as usual. He had seen many strange sights and countries, and, like most people, he liked to tell his travels. The lords were delighted with his tales, as they sat round the fire drinking wine after supper, and at length the Lord of the White Castle, who was very curious, said—

“‘Good stranger, what was the greatest wonder you ever saw in all your travels?’

“‘The most wonderful sight that ever I saw,’ replied the traveller, ‘was at the end of yonder forest, where in an ancient wooden house there sits an old woman weaving her own hair into grey