62 THE MAGIC OAK TREE

struck her knee the old woman knew that
her last hour was come. Therefore it was
that she gave vent to a bitter cry, and sank
down upon the earth in pain which it was
sad to see. She still glared furiously at the
boy, while she writhed upon the ground, but
the Fairy of the Falls bade him not to fear,
since the wicked old creature would soon be
beyond doing harm to him or any one else.
She told him, however, that he had better
now get away out of the forest as soon as
he could, and directed him what to do next
in order to save his little brothers and sisters
from the fate to which Venomista had con-
demned them. Her directions were to some
extent similar to those which he had already
received, and I need not tell you the rhymes
in which the fairy conveyed them to the
boy. He was to turn head over heels again
at the edge of the forest and walk straight
forward. That was all she told him, and
as it was not very hard to do, he thanked
her kindly and set off at once. You will no
doubt wish to know what was the end of
Venomista, but I never heard any more of
her, and therefore I suppose that if fairies
ever do die, she did so from the bite of her