The Hobyahs

O NCE there was an old man and an old woman and a little girl, and they all lived together in a house made of hempstalks, and they had a little dog named Turpie.

One night the Hobyahs came and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and carry off the little girl!"

But little dog Turpie barked so that the Hobyahs all ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will sell him."

So when it was morning the old man took little dog Turpie and was gone all day trying to sell him. "You can have him for four shillings," said he to every person he met; but no one would buy him. Some did not want a dog, others lacked money, and the old man had to bring little dog Turpie back home.

That night the Hobyahs came again and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and carry off the little girl."

But little dog Turpie barked so that the Hobyahs all ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will sell him."

So when it was morning the old man took little dog Turpie and was gone all day trying to sell him. "You can have him for three shillings," said he to every person he met; but no one would buy him. Some did not want a dog, and others did not have the three shillings. The only man who wanted a dog and had the money refused to buy when he learned that the reason why Turpie's master wished to sell him was because he barked so; and the old man had to bring little dog Turpie back home.

That night the Hobyahs came again and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and carry off the little girl!"

But little dog Turpie barked so that the Hobyahs all ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will sell him."

So when it was morning the old man took little dog Turpie and was gone all day trying to sell him. "You can have him for two shillings," said he to every person he met; but no one would buy him, and the old man had to bring little dog Turpie back home.

That night the Hobyahs came again and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and carry off the little girl!"

But little dog Turpie barked so that the Hobyahs all ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will sell him!"

So when it was morning the old man took little dog Turpie and was gone all day trying to sell him. "You may have him for one shilling," said he to every person he met; but no one would buy him, and the old man had to bring little dog Turpie back home.

That night the Hobyahs came again and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and carry off the little girl!"

But little dog Turpie barked so that the Hobyahs all ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will give little dog Turpie away."

So when it was morning the old man took little dog Turpie, and he was not gone long before he gave little dog Turpie away, and he returned without him.

That night the Hobyahs came again and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah! Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and carry off the little girl!"

There was no little dog Turpie to bark this time, and the Hobyahs tore down the hempstalks, ate up the old man and woman, and carried the little girl off in a bag.

And when the Hobyahs came to where they lived among the rocks in the forest they set the bag down with the little girl in it, and every Hobyah knocked on the top of the bag, and said, "Look me! look me!"

Then they crawled into the holes among the rocks and went to sleep, for the Hobyahs slept in the daytime.

The little girl cried a great deal, and a man with a big dog came that way and he heard her crying. So he opened the bag and asked her how she came there, and she told him. Then he put the dog in the bag and took the little girl to his home.

That night the Hobyahs went to the bag and knocked on the top of it and said, "Look me! look me!"

But when they opened the bag the big dog jumped out and ate them all up; so there are no Hobyahs now.