, we should see them feasting and dancing and holding their revels
just as of old. If, though, you do go, you must be very careful to keep
at a distance, and not to trespass on their fairy ground, for that is a
great offence, and woe be to you if you offend them!

There was, once upon a time, a grasping, mean old fellow who did so, and
pretty well he was punished for his daring. It is his story I am going to
tell you, but I will not tell you his name, for that would be unpleasant
for his descendants, but I will tell you this much,--he was a St. Just
man, and no credit to the place either, I am sure.

Well, this old man used to listen to the tales the people told of the
Fairies and their riches, and their wonderful treasures, until he could
scarcely bear to hear any more, he longed so to have some of those riches
for himself; and at last his covetousness grew so great, he said to
himself he must and would have some, or he should die of vexation.

So one night, when the Harvest Moon was at the full, he started off alone,
and very stealthily, to walk to the Gump, for he did not want his
neighbours to know anything at all about his plans. He was very nervous,
for it is a very desolate spot, but his greed was greater than his fear,
and he made himself go forward, though he longed all the time to turn tail
and hurry home to the safe shelter of his house and his bed.

When he was still at some distance from the enchanted spot, strains of the
most exquisite music anyone could possibly imagine reached his ear, and as
he stood listening it seemed to come nearer and nearer until, at last,
it was close about him. The most wonderful part, though, of it all was
that there was nothing to be seen, no person, no bird, not an animal even.
The empty moor stretched away on every side, the Gump lay bare and
desolate before him. The only living being on it that night was himself.

The music, indeed, seemed to come from under the ground, and such strange
music it was, too, so gentle, so touching, it made the old miser weep, in
spite of himself, and then, even while the tears were still running down
his cheeks, he was forced to laugh quite merrily, and even to dance,
though he certainly did not want to do either. After that it was not
surprising that he found himself marching along, step and step, keeping
time with the music as it played, first slowly and with stately tread,
then fast and lively.

All the time, though, that he was la