54 THE MAGIC OAK TREE

‘You tatterdemalion!’ she shouted, ‘you
tearing, treacherous, tantalising, tempestuous
tatterdemalion! How dare you come here
with your turnabout tomboy tricks! J’7/
teach you how to come creeping on here
with your crestfallen, crumbling counte-
nance! You are not going to have the
tumbling all to yourself! Cambia! Cambia!’

As she spoke, to Hurly-Burly’s infinite
astonishment the old woman proceeded in
the most deliberate manner to turn head
over heels just as he had himself done, and
then stand on her head in the same way,
glaring frightfully at him as she did so. To
add to his astonishment, the bat, the adder,
and the weasel immediately followed the
example of their mistress, and all three stood
on their respective heads as if it was the
most natural thing in the world. This,
however, was probably not a convenient or
comfortable position, for the old woman
shortly changed it; and, having been
brought by her tumble within some three
yards of the boy, she squatted down on the
ground directly opposite to him, fixed her
eyes intently upon his, and began to sing in
a slow tone words of a fearful import :—