So she gathered up her basket and knife, stuffed the basket, and her ap.r.o.n, and her pockets with all the vegetables she could carry, and started off for the village. Before she was half way there, however, she met her husband. "Where is it?" "There it is!" they called at the same moment, and falling into each other"s arms and a mud puddle, they stood for a long time, saying by turns: "Did you ever?" "No, I never!" "Would you believe it?" "Not "less I see"d it!" and then they took hold of hands and trotted off to the little house that ran on wheels.
There they found it, all high and dry, under a big apple tree, looking as nice as ninepence. With joyful hearts they hurried inside, picked up the saucepans, and cooked all the tomatuses and potatuses for dinner, with an apple dumpling for dessert, made of some of the apples that had fallen off the tree; and after that, the little old man and the little old woman, and the bright green blinds, and the bright red walls, and the bright blue door with the bright bra.s.s knocker, and the bright yellow steps, all lived in peace and the middle of the village, believing more firmly than ever in the existence of fairies, and never doubting that their house had been moved solely by the miraculous power of the fairy spell,
"Rorum corum torum snorum, Highc.u.m tickleme c.o.c.kolorum!"
And if they"re not dead they live there still! Don"t you believe it?
Well I NEVER did!
THE END OF THE FOURTH BOOK.