I thought . Close by was a tidy little house under the hill , and in it a tidy little woman who sold things to eat . Being rather hungry , in spite of my porridge , I bought a baked apple and a cranberry-pie ; for she said they were good , and I found she told the truth . As I sat eating my pie , some dogs began to bark ; and by came a troop of beggars , some in rags , and some in old velvet gowns . A drunken grenadier was with them , who wanted a pot of beer ; but as he had no money , the old woman sent him about his business . On my way up the hill , I saw a little boy crying over a dead pig , and his sister , who seemed to be dead also . I asked his name , and he sobbed out , `` Johnny Pringle , ma'am ; '' and went on crying so hard I could do nothing to comfort him . While I stood talking to him , a sudden gust of wind blew up the road , and down came the bough of a tree ; and , to my surprise , a cradle with a baby in it also . The baby screamed dreadfully , and I did n't know how to quiet it ; so I ran back to the old woman , and left it with her , asking if that was the way babies were taken care of there . `` Bless you , my dear ! its ma is making patty-cakes ; and put it up there to be out of the way of Tom Tinker 's dog . I 'll soon hush it up , '' said the old woman ; and , trotting it on her knee , she began to sing : `` Hey ! my kitten , my kitten , Hey ! my kitten , my deary . '' Feeling that the child was in good hands , I hurried away , for I saw something was going on upon the hill-top . When I got to the hill-top , I was shocked to find some people tossing an old woman in a blanket . I begged them to stop ; but one of the men , who , I found , was a Welchman , by the name of Taffy , told me the old lady liked it . `` But why does she like it ? '' I asked in great surprise . `` Tom , the piper 's son , will tell you : it 's my turn to toss now , '' said the man .
`` Why , you see , ma'am , '' said XXXXX , `` she is one of those dreadfully nice old women , who are always fussing and scrubbing , and worrying people to death , with everlastingly cleaning house .
Pringle Tinker Tom Welchman cranberry-pie grenadier hill-top left patty-cakes piper