"We must both go to bed now, and at daybreak I will call you and at once
complete your transformation into a marble statue."
With this she hobbled into her room, bearing the steaming kettle with her,
and Tip heard her close and lock the door.
The boy did not go to bed, as he had been commanded to do, but still sat
glaring at the embers of the dying fire.
Line-Art Drawing
29 The Flight of the Fugitives
Tip reflected.
"It's a hard thing, to be a marble statue," he thought, rebelliously, "and
I'm not going to stand it. For years I've been a bother to her, she says; so
she's going to get rid of me. Well, there's an easier way than to become a
statue. No boy could have any fun forever standing in the middle of a flower
garden! I'll run away, that's what I'll do -- and I may as well go before
she makes me drink that nasty stuff in the kettle." He waited until the
snores of the old witch announced she was fast asleep, and then he arose
softly and went to the cupboard to find something to eat.
30
"No use starting on a journey without food," he decided, searching upon the
narrow shelves.
He found some crusts of bread; but he had to look into Mombi's basket to
find the cheese she had brought from the village.
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