essie gave thanks for her escapes from her vicissitudes to all the creatures that she had been told of as a child , to the piskies ( whose influence , she was certain , extended as far as london ) , and she would put a wooden bowl of milk on a window ledge each night , although her friends laughed at her ; but she had the last laugh , as her friends got the pox or the clap and essie remained in the peak of health .