"She lives in a little hut which stands on hen's legs. Sometimes it
faces the forest, sometimes it faces the path, and sometimes it walks
solemnly about. But in some of the stories she lives in another kind
of hut, with a railing of tall sticks, and a skull on each stick. And
all night long fire glows in the skulls and fades as the dawn rises."

"Now tell us one of the Baba Yaga stories," said Maroosia.

"Please," said Vanya.

"I will tell you how one little girl got away from her, and then, if
ever she catches you, you will know exactly what to do."

And old Peter put down his pipe and began:--




BABA YAGA AND THE LITTLE GIRL WITH THE KIND HEART.


Once upon a time there was a widowed old man who lived alone in a hut
with his little daughter. Very merry they were together, and they used
to smile at each other over a table just piled with bread and jam.
Everything went well, until the old man took it into his head to marry
again.

Yes, the old man became foolish in the years of his old age, and he
took another wife. And so the poor little girl had a stepmother. And