“What is the matter?” cried young squire, jumping off his horse to help.  “Has any one fallen in?”

“Aye!  Matter enough,” says they.  “Can’t ’ee see moon’s fallen into the pond, an’ we can’t get her out nohow.”

And with that they set to again raking, and forking, and sweeping away.  Then the young squire burst out laughing, told them they were fools for their pains, and bade them look up over their heads where the moon was riding broad and full.  But they wouldn’t, and they wouldn’t believe that what they saw in the water was only a reflection.  And when he insisted they began to abuse him roundly and threaten to duck him in the pond.  So he got on his horse again as quickly as he could, leaving them raking, and forking, and sweeping away; and for all we know they may be at it yet!

But the young squire said to himself, “There are many more sillies in this world than I thought for; so I’ll just go back and marry the farmer’s daughter.  She is no sillier than the rest.”

So they were married, and if they didn’t live happy ever after, that has nothing to do with the story of the three sillies.

[Illustration:  Headpiece—­The Golden Ball]

THE GOLDEN BALL

Once upon a time there lived two lasses, who were sisters, and as they came from the fair they saw a right handsome young man standing at a house door before them.  They had never seen such a handsome young man before.  He had gold on his cap, gold on his finger, gold on his neck, gold at his waist!  And he had a golden ball in each hand.  He gave a ball to each lass, saying she was to keep it; but if she lost it, she was to be hanged.

Now the youngest of the lasses lost her ball, and this is how.  She was by a park paling, and she was tossing her ball, and it went up, and up, and up, till it went fair over the paling; and when she climbed to look for it, the ball ran along the green grass, and it ran right forward to the door of a house that stood there, and the ball went into the house and she saw it no more.

So she was taken away to be hanged by the neck till she was dead, because she had lost her ball.

But the lass had a sweetheart, and he said he would go and get the ball.  So he went to the park gate, but ’twas shut; then he climbed the railing, and when he got to the top of it an old woman rose up out of the ditch before him and said that if he wanted to get the ball he must sleep three nights in the house:  so he said he would.

Well! when it was evening, he went into the house, and looked everywhere for the ball, but he could not find it, nor any one in the house at all; but when night came on he thought he heard bogles moving about in the courtyard; so he looked out o’ window, and, sure enough, the yard was full of them!

Presently he heard steps coming upstairs, so he hid behind the door, and was as still as a mouse.  Then in came a big giant five times as tall as the lad, and looked around; but seeing nothing he went to the window and bowed himself to look out; and as he bowed on his elbows to see the bogles in the yard, the lad stepped behind him, and with one blow of his sword he cut him in twain, so that the top part of him fell in the yard, and the bottom part remained standing looking out of the window.