Amid a clearing in the forest, and not far from the edge of the brook, stood a little cottage where lived the Singing Girl.  She was the daughter of a wood-chopper who, every morning, tramped off through the lanes of tall trees to cut fire-sticks which he sold in the town.  The Singing Girl, as she was called, remained at home in the cottage, after her father had gone to cut wood.  She washed the dishes, she swept the floors and she dusted the furniture until her father came home at night, when she would have his supper ready.