and of their dread. The gloomy spot, sometimes denominated by the peasants the Goblins’ Wood, lay somewhat apart from the village, within a hollow, to which the dark trees, with their stinted foliage, imparted a terrifying character of cheerlessness and horror. On approaching sufficiently near, a few miserable hovels might be descried, whose ruinous, mouldering walls bespoke not only decay but desertion. Of population there was no sign, save that at times, some miserable crone, clad in the attire of extreme wretchedness, and of truly hideous aspect, might be seen carrying a brat, squallid and deformed as herself. Sometimes too, a large black monster whose form could hardly be termed human, was seen to enter some one of the huts, attended by a dog of appearance equally horrible. At other times, strange forms might be perceived crouching around a dimly blazing fire, whose lurid flame just served to render their outline discernable. No one of the village, however, ventured to approach sufficiently near to mark these shapes of wild horror, or else not even the magic
