Page:Tales from the Fjeld.djvu/367

Rh So when they got up to the old oak in the wood, the man said to the lad—

"Now you must chop out one chip, and you must put it back where it came from, and when you have done that you may lie down and sleep.

Yes; Boots did as he said; he laid him down to sleep, and in his slumber he thought he heard some one hewing and hammering, and carpentering, and sawing, and planing, but he could not wake up till the man called him, and then there stood the ship all ready alongside the oak.

"Now you must go aboard her, and every one you meet you must take as one of your crew," he said.

Yes; Boots thanked him for the ship, and sailed off, saying he'd be sure to do what he said.

So when he had sailed a while, he came upon a great, long, thin fellow, who lay away by the hillside and ate granite.

"What kind of chap are you," said Boots, "that you lie here eating granite?"

Well, he was so sharp set for meat he could never have his fill, and that was why he was forced to eat granite. That was what he said; and then he begged if he might have leave to be one of the ship's company.

"Oh, yes," said Boots; "if you care to come, step on board."

Yes, he was willing enough, and he took with him a few big granite boulders as his sea stores.

So when they had sailed a bit farther they met a man who lay on a sunny brae and sucked at a tap.

"What sort of a chap are you?" asked Boots, "and what good is it that you lie there sucking at that tap?"