“I have a suggestion,” said the Soft-Voiced Cow, “which may be helpful. Let us all walk down to the molasses candy bog, and when we are at the edge I will take you all on my back and carry you some distance along the bank, so that you will not leave any footprints. Then when the Magician comes along he will not be able to track you!” “That is an excellent idea!” said Gran’pa. “Let us act upon the Soft-Voiced Cow’s suggestion!” So they all walked down to the molasses candy bog. The Soft-Voiced Cow took Gran’ma, Janey and the Princess upon her back and carried them far down the bank; then she returned and carried Gran’pa and Johnny to where the others were waiting. But as they walked the bank gradually curved in until in a short time they were walking in the direction from which they had just come. “This will never do,” said Gran’pa coming to a stop, “for we are returning from whence we came.” And when they walked back along the bank the same thing happened. Everything went swinging before them in long, sweeping circles. They couldn’t make heads or tails of the shore line. “Let us try walking away from the molasses candy bog,” said Johnny, “and see what happens then!” So they turned their backs to the bog and started walking away from it. Sure enough, when they did this the bog began to fade away, and soon it disappeared entirely! “Whee!” cried the children. “We can go ahead!” The travelers had lost a lot of valuable time, so they hastened across the fields where the bog had been. “You see!” said the Princess, “Johnny was right! The Old Woman’s magic was as contrary as herself, for when the molasses candy bog thought we did not care whether we crossed it or not, it disappeared.” As the travelers walked along, they saw numbers of small animals running about. “I wonder where these little animals were when the great molasses bog was here!” Janey said looking at them curiously. “I’ll ask one of them,” said the Soft-Voiced Cow, and she talked to the strange little beast in animal talk. [Illustration] When the little animal answered, the Soft-Voiced Cow rolled over on the ground with laughter and when at last she could speak she said, “I asked the animal where it was when the bog was here, and it said there never had been a bog here. Said it had lived here for years and the ground had always been as it is now, except after a hard rain, so you see the Old Woman only made us believe we saw a bog here, when in reality there was none at all.” “It’s queer,” exclaimed Gran’pa, “but I certainly tasted molasses candy on my cane! In fact,” he said, looking at the cane, “there is still some on it now!” “Let me taste it!” Gran’ma cried. “Yes,” she said, “it is molasses candy!” “Well at any rate we are not troubled with the bog now!” Janey mused. Across the fields rose high mountains. “I wonder if we shall be able to find a path through the mountains!” Gran’pa said.