"Good-day, my dear," said the witch. "Will you give me a few of those ripe berries?"
"Of course I will," answered Margot. "Take as many as you like, I can easily gather some more." So the witch took a handful of berries, and sat down by Margot's side to eat them. And all the time she was eating she was gazing greedily at the little girl's white neck and rosy cheeks, but Margot could not see the hateful look in the witch's eyes because the cloak hid her face.
"Where do you live, little girl?" asked the witch after a while.
Margot told her, and the witch said: "You must be very tired with walking all that way. If you will come to my house I will give you a bowl of milk and a slice of currant cake, and you shall see all the wonderful things that I keep in my cupboards."
So Margot went with the witch into the gloomy tower, not so much because she wanted the milk or the cake, but to see the pretty things in the cupboards, and no sooner was she within than the witch fell upon her, and bound her fast with a cord, and carried her up to the topmost room, where the cat was sitting blinking its green eyes. Then the old witch opened the door of a dark cupboard, and pushed poor Margot inside, for she meant to keep her there until she had grown bigger and fatter, so that she would make a more satisfying meal. To this end the witch brought her plenty of rich food every day, and from time to time she would feel Margot's arm to see whether she was plump enough to go into the pot. Poor child, how frightened she was, and how miserable at being kept in that dark cupboard all alone. She cried nearly all day long, but there was nobody to hear her except the witch's big black cat, and he was a silent animal who did not show his feelings. Margot was almost as sorry for him as she was for herself, for the witch often beat him unmercifully, and the girl tried to comfort him by giving him pieces from her dinner, which she pushed out through the crack under the door.
[Illustration: SHE MEANT TO KEEP HER THERE UNTIL SHE HAD GROWN BIGGER AND FATTER]
One day when the old witch had gone out as usual, leaving Margot a prisoner, the girl was surprised to hear a voice speaking to her from the room beyond. "Margot, Margot," said the voice, "don't cry any more, but listen to me."