r business or pleasure, and scorned
the wise advice of old Peggy. Only the youngest child hesitated a
minute, when she said to him, 'You stay here, my little Richard, and I
will tell you beautiful stories.'

But he wanted to pick a bunch of wild thyme and some blackberries by
moonlight, and ran out after the others. When they got outside the house
they said: 'The old woman talks of wind and storm, but never was the
weather finer or the sky more clear; see how majestically the moon
stalks through the transparent clouds!'

Then all of a sudden they noticed a little black pony close beside them.

'Oh, ho!' they said, 'that is old Valentine's pony; it must have escaped
from its stable, and is going down to drink at the horse-pond.'

'My pretty little pony,' said the eldest, patting the creature with his
hand, 'you mustn't run too far; I'll take you to the pond myself.'

With these words he jumped on the pony's back and was quickly followed
by his second brother, then by the third, and so on, till at last they
were all astride the little beast, down to the small Richard, who didn't
like to be left behind.

[Illustration: The Goblin Pony]

On the way to the pond they met several of their companions, and they
invited them all to mount the pony, which they did, and the little
creature did not seem to mind the extra weight, but trotted merrily
along.

The quicker it trotted the more the young people enjoyed the fun; they
dug their heels into the pony's sides and called out, 'Gallop, little
horse, you have never had such brave riders on your back before!'

In the meantime the wind had risen again, and the waves began to howl;
but the pony did not seem to mind the noise, and instead of going to the
pond, cantered gaily towards the sea-shore.

Richard began to regret his thyme and blackberries, and the eldest
brother seized the pony by the mane and tried to make it turn round, for
he remembered the blue eyes of Jacob the rope-maker's daughter. But he
tugged and pulled in vain, for the pony galloped straight on into the
sea, till the waves met its forefeet. As soon as it felt the water it
neighed lustily and capered about with glee, advancing quickly into the
foaming billows. When the waves had covered the children's legs they
repented their careless behaviour, and cried out: 'The cursed little
black pony is bewitched. If we had only listened to old Peggy's advice
we shouldn't have been lost.'

The further the pony adva