before them. They never saw such a bonny man before. He had gold on his
cap, gold on his finger, gold on his neck, a red gold watch-chain--eh!
but he had brass. He had a golden ball in each hand. He gave a ball to
each lass, and she was to keep it, and if she lost it, she was to be
hanged. One of the lasses, 't was the youngest, lost her ball. I'll tell
thee how. She was by a park-paling, and she was tossing her ball, and it
went up, and up, and up, till it went fair over the paling; and when she
climbed up to look, the ball ran along the green grass, and it went
right forward to the door of the house, and the ball went in and she saw
it no more.

So she was taken away to be hanged by the neck till she was dead because
she'd lost her ball.

But she had a sweetheart, and he said he would go and get the ball. So
he went to the park-gate, but 't was shut; so he climbed the hedge, and
when he got to the top of the hedge, an old woman rose up out of the
dyke before him, and said, if he wanted to get the ball, he must sleep
three nights in the house. He said he would.

Then he went into the house, and looked for the ball, but could not find
it. Night came on and he heard bogles move in the courtyard; so he
looked out o' the window, and the yard was full of them.

Presently he heard steps coming upstairs. He hid behind the door, and
was as still as a mouse. Then in came a big giant five times as tall as
he, and the giant looked round but did not see the lad, so he went to
the window and bowed to look out; and as he bowed on his elbows to see
the bogles in the yard, the lad stepped behind him, and with one blow of
his sword he cut him in twain, so that the top part of him fell in the