r God, reached for a horn of
white shell which hung from his shoulder by a coral chain, and blew a
shrill blast, and the Goblin fell upon his face on the ground.

"Rise!" called the River God, "and tell me where you are going?"

"Oh! Your Majesty," said the sly little Goblin, "I was about to go to
the Fairy Queen and tell her one of her fairies was being carried off,
but of course I shall not do so now. I see whom she is with. I
thought it was old Neptune himself and he might change her into a
mermaid."

The River God knew the bad little fellow was telling him a wrong story,
but something must be done, so he pretended to believe the Goblin, and
said: "Well, now you know the Fairy is safe, what can I do for you if
you keep our secret?"

"Give me a silver cap," said the Goblin, quickly.

"Very well. Come here to-morrow night at midnight hour and you shall
have the cap if you have not told the Fairy Queen what you have seen,"
said the River God.

The Goblin promised and off he ran to his home in the rocks, and the
River God took the Fairy back to the willow tree. "Come tomorrow
without your wand, my love," he said; "we must not delay, now that the
Goblin has seen us, for he cannot be trusted after he gets the silver
cap."

The next night the Goblin was by the river waiting when the Little
Fairy arrived.

"Where is your wand?" he asked, for he saw at once she did not have it.

Before she could reply there was splash in the middle of the river and
out of the mist and foam the River God lifted his head and called to
the Fairy. At the same time he held up a little silver cap to the
Goblin.

The Little Fairy went to her lover by the same path as before, but she
took from his hand the little silver cap and tossed it to the Goblin
before she flew into her lover's outstretched arms.

"Now tell him where your wand is," said the River God.

"I have left it behind me in the dell," she said, blushing and hanging
her head.

"What! are you not going back to the Queen?" asked the Goblin, in
astonishment. "Are you to become a river sprite?"

"You have guessed it," said the River God. "This night we are to be
married at the bottom of the river. Farewell, you little tell-tale
Goblin. I hope your silver cap fits your peaked little head."

The Goblin watched the Fairy and her lover as they slowly sank from
sight, and then he ran off as fast as he could to the dell to tell the
Queen what he had seen. "I'll get a