THE CHILDREN
my good horse," John Ball cried, "for we must find Valentine and Golden Hood who have strayed into the Dark Forest."
So they went on, going farther and farther into the Dark Forest. John Ball ate bread and fruit and drank a little from the water. He called out the names, "Valentine, Valentine," and "Golden Hood, Golden Hood," but the names sounded hollow amongst the dark and stone-like trees.
As they went on they heard a plunging step coming after them. More and more the tremors went through the skin of Baldwin. Looking back John Ball saw the first creature he had seen since he came into the Dark Forest. It came after them with a plunge and a thud, a thud and a plunge. Something flapped at its wide shoulders as it began to run. The creature had a flat face and one of its feet was shaped as an ass's hoof and the other was as a man's foot, and it was of shining brass. And this creature of the Dark Forest came plunging and
80
