And there in the hole lay a tiddy thing on its back, blinking up
at the moon and at him. 'T was no bigger than a year-old baby, but it
had long cotted hair and beard, twisted round and round its body so that
you couldn't see its clothes; and the hair was all yaller and shining
and silky, like a bairn's; but the face of it was old and as if 't were
hundreds of years since 't was young and smooth. Just a heap of
wrinkles, and two bright black eyne in the midst, set in a lot of
shining yaller hair; and the skin was the colour of the fresh turned
earth in the spring--brown as brown could be, and its bare hands and
feet were brown like the face of it. The greeting had stopped, but the
tears were standing on its cheek, and the tiddy thing looked mazed like
in the moonshine and the night air.
The creature's eyne got used like to the moonlight, and presently he
looked up in Tom's face as bold as ever was; "Tom," says he, "thou 'rt a
good lad!" as cool as thou can think, says he, "Tom, thou 'rt a good
lad!" and his voice was soft and high and piping like a little bird
twittering.
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