Tephany did not dare to disobey, but with a heavy heart went down the path to the river. ‘She is harder than these rocks,’ said the girl to herself, ‘yes, a thousand times harder. For the rain at least can at last wear away the stone, but you might cry for ever, and she would never care. Talking to Denis is the only pleasure I have, and if I am not to see him I may as well enter a convent.’ Thinking these thoughts she reached the bank, and began to unfold the large packet of linen that had to be washed. The tap of a stick made her look up, and standing before her she saw a little old woman, whose face was strange to her. ‘You would like to sit down and rest, granny?’ asked Tephany, pushing aside her bundle. ‘When the sky is all the roof you have, you rest where you will,’ replied the old woman in trembling tones. ‘Are you so lonely, then?’ inquired Tephany, full of pity. ‘Have you no friends who would welcome you into their houses?’ The old woman shook her head. ‘They all died long, long ago,’ she answered, ‘and the only friends I have are strangers with kind hearts.’ The girl did not speak for a moment, then held out the small loaf and some bacon intended for her dinner. ‘Take this,’ she said; ‘to-day at any rate you shall dine well,’ and the old woman took it, gazing at Tephany the while. ‘Those who help others deserve to be helped,’ she answered; ‘your eyes are still red because that miser Barbaik has forbidden you to speak to the young man from Plover. But cheer up, you are a good girl, and I will give you something that will enable you to see him once every day.’ ‘You?’ cried Tephany, stupefied at discovering that the beggar knew all about her affairs, but the old woman did not hear her. ‘Take this long copper pin,’ she went on, ‘and every time you stick it in your dress Mother Bourhis will be obliged to leave the house in order to go and count her cabbages. As long as the pin is in your dress you will be free, and your aunt will not come back until you have put it in its case again.’ Then, rising, she nodded to Tephany and vanished. The girl stood where she was, as still as a stone. If it had not been for the pin in her hands she would have thought she was dreaming. But by that token she knew it was no common old woman who had given it to her, but a fairy, wise in telling what would happen in the days to come. Then suddenly Tephany’s eyes fell on the clothes, and to make up for lost time she began to wash them with great vigour.