, a hundred years later, each man mourned
them as his own father and mother.

[From le Cabinet de Fees.]

The Goblin Pony

'Don't stir from the fireplace to-night,' said old Peggy, 'for the
wind is blowing so violently that the house shakes; besides, this is
Hallow-e'en, when the witches are abroad, and the goblins, who are their
servants, are wandering about in all sorts of disguises, doing harm to
the children of men.'

'Why should I stay here?' said the eldest of the young people. 'No,
I must go and see what the daughter of old Jacob, the rope-maker, is
doing. She wouldn't close her blue eyes all night if I didn't visit her
father before the moon had gone down.'

'I must go and catch lobsters and crabs' said the second, 'and not all
the witches and goblins in the world shall hinder me.'

So they all determined to go on their 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.

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 bega