Violet Jacob > Stories told by the miller

THE STORY OF THE WATER-NIX 25
“ The kelpie would take care that she came
to no harm,” said Janet.
“ You’re right there,” said the miller. “ I
make no doubt but they’re living happily among
the sea-caves hundreds of miles away.”
“ But the man with the untidy hair—you
haven’t told what happened to him,” said the
little boy.
“ Ah yes, there’s more to be said about him,”
answered the miller. “He wrote his poem,
and it made him rich. There was so much
Latin in it that people thought it wonderful.
That brought him in a heap of money. He
married and had a large family, and one of his
daughters was my grandmother. She was a
fine girl, and it seemed to him a bad come-down
in life when she married the miller and came to
live here. But they were very happy, for all
that, and it was from the miller’s man she heard
the story of the Water-Nix.”
“ Is it because your great-grandfather was a
poet that you can tell stories so well?” asked
Janet, with some awe.
“ Well, it might be,” said the miller. “ Any¬
how, it’s a fine notion. I never thought of it
before.”
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