quietly, went out. When he peeped round the corner, he saw, under his
own window, a group of stumpy creatures, whom he at once
recognized by
their shape. Hardly, however, had he begun his "One, two, three!"
when
they broke as under, scurried away, and were out of sight. He returned
laughing, got into bed again, and was fast asleep in a moment.
Reflecting a little over the matter in the morning, he came to the
conclusion that, as nothing of the kind had ever happened before, they
must be annoyed with him for interfering to protect the princess. By
the
time he was dressed, however, he was thinking of something quite
different, for he did not value the enmity of the goblins in the least.
As soon as they had had breakfast, he set off with his father for the
mine.
They entered the hill by a natural opening under a huge rock, where a
little stream rushed out. They followed its course for a few yards,
when the passage took a turn, and sloped steeply into the heart of the
hill. With many angles and windings and branchings off, and
sometimes
Madhuri Noah
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