Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/112

106 taken by the hand and led into the hall; all at once she sprang away and was gone. For many days she was not seen near the homestead. One night I was standing waiting for game not far from The Old Bleachery; the moon shone so that it was as light as day. All at once I saw Victorka coming out of the woods. When she walks, she always has her hands folded upon her breast and her head bent forward, and she steps so lightly, that she scarcely seems to touch the ground. At this time she went in this way directly to the dam. I used to see her quite often near the water or on the side of the hill under that large oak, and so I did not pay any special attention to her then. But when I observed more closely I saw that she was throwing something into the water, and I heard her laugh so wildly that my hair stood up in terror. My dog began to howl. Victorka then sat down on a stump and sang; I did not understand a word, but the tune was that of the lullaby which mothers sing to their children:

That song sounded so mournful in the still night that I could hardly remain at my post. For two hours she sat there and sang. Since that time she is at the bank every evening singing that lullaby. In the morning I told my master, and he guessed at once what she most probably threw into the water,—and it was true. When we saw her again, her form was changed. Her mother and the others