The Child's Warning

One day the dairy maid is called to help she asks her daughter to watch the pail of milk and tell her if something happens. The girl says of course she will watch the milk. The mother goes to help her friend knowing that the milk will be safely watched. While she is away a man comes with a bowl and takes some of the milk. The girl tells him to leave it alone because that milk belongs to her mother. The man tells her to go away and mind her own business. When the mother returns she sees that some of the milk is missing and asks the girl. The man who took it interrupts and tells the mother that a cat came to drink the milk and that the girl watched it. The mother believes him and when the girl says that he lied her mother says that an adult would not steal milk or lie about it. She insists that the man took the milk and the mother tells her to not make up stories. The next morning after milking the cow the maid puts a cloth over the milk and asks her daughter to watch it, telling her that this time if a cat comes to drink it again she should scare it off. The girl agrees and swears that she will not let a cat, dog, or any other animal drink it. The mother goes to help their neighbor and hopes that this time all of the milk will still be there when she returns. The man walks along the lane each morning, watching for the maid to leave. He greets her and goes straight to the pail with his bowl. The girl tells him to leave again but he pushes her down and takes the milk anyway. When her mother returns the man is there again with an excuse. He says that a calf escaped from another farm and smelled the milk. When the girl tried to stop it, she was pushed over by the beast. The girl insisted that the man took the milk and her mother tells her again to not make up stories. She knows that her mother wont believe her so she doesn't argue. The mother thinks it strange that her daughter would suddenly start to tell tales so plans to catch the thief the next day. After milking the cow the mother takes the full pail with her. She tells her daughter to watch an empty pail with a heavy cloth on top of it. She says that she is not angry at her when that calf had pushed her down, and to watch the milk a third time. She agrees and says that she will find a large stick to chase away any calf which came to drink the milk. When the mother leaves she sees the same man greets her. This time she greets him and watches him. He goes straight to her farm and she follows him. The girl sees him and tries to keep him out with the big stick but he catches it and hits her with it instead. He takes a bowl out of his coat and goes to the pail to take some milk. When he finds it empty he kicks it aside. The mother sees him and asks him where the milk went. He says that a deer ran through the yard and kicked over the pail, the milk had soaked into the ground. The girl says that he had kicked it and that there was none inside it. The mother puts down the full pail next to the door and grabs the man by his coat and shakes him. All kinds of things fall out of it, including items which friends had said have gone missing. The mother tells her daughter that she is sorry she didn't believe her before and that she can have the biggest piece of meat from the stew if she would run to the town and get the police.