Story Hour Readers — Book Three

								

Before the Poor Brother could answer, the seven little dwarfs had
crowded around him, teasing for the ham. It was many a day since they
had tasted ham, and they were very fond of it.
"What will you give me for the ham?" asked the Poor Brother.
"We have neither silver nor gold," said the dwarfs, "but we will give
you the Mill that stands behind the door."
"Of what use would the Mill be to me? I am hungry and have come to boil
the ham," said the Poor Brother.
"It is a wonderful Mill," the Chief Dwarf replied. "It will grind
anything in the world that you might wish, excepting snow and ham. I
will show you how to use it."
The Poor Brother agreed to give the ham in exchange for the Mill, and
the Chief Dwarf told him how to use it.
The dwarf said, "When you wish the Mill to grind, use these words:


Grind, quickly grind, little Mill,
Grind--with a right good will!
"When you wish the Mill to stop grinding, you must say,



   Halt, halt, little Mill!
The Mill will obey you."
Taking the little Mill under his arm, the Poor Brother climbed up and
up, until he came to the entrance in the side of the hill. Then he
trudged home again through the snow.
When he arrived in front of the hut, he put the little Mill down on the
snow, and said at once,


"Grind, quickly grind, little Mill,
Grind a HOUSE--with a right good will!"
The little Mill ground and ground, until there stood, in place of the
hut, the finest house in the world. It had fine large windows and broad
stairways, and the house was furnished from garret to cellar.
By spring, the Mill had ground out the last article that was needed for
the house, and the Poor Brother cried,


"Halt, halt, little Mill!"
The Mill obeyed him.
Then the Poor Brother placed the Mill in the barnyard and told it to
grind horses, cows, woolly sheep, and fat little pigs.
When he told it to halt, the Mill stopped grinding.
The Poor Brother carried the Mill to the fields and commanded it to
grind rich crops of wheat, oats, barley, and corn.
Then he took the Mill into the house and asked it to grind fine clothing
for his wife and his daughters, and to keep all the cupboards filled
with good things to eat.
At last the Poor Brother had everything that he wanted. He placed the
Mill behind the kitchen door and sat down, with his wife and daughters,
to eat the choicest food he had ever tasted.
The Rich Brother heard about all the strange things that had happened,
and he went to visit the Poor Brother.
"How did you manage to become so rich?" he asked in astonishment.
The Poor Brother told about the Mill, and that he need only say,



    "Grind, quickly grind, little Mill,

     Grind--with a right good will!"
And the Mill would grind anything he might wish to have.
The Rich Brother did not wait to hear any more but said, "Lend the Mill
to me for an hour."
Taking it under his arm, the stingy Rich Brother ran across the fields