THE CHILDREN
"O Baldwin," cried Golden Hood, "tell me—Oh, how glad I am that you can speak, Baldwin!—tell me where is John Ball and where is Valentine."
"I cannot say, I cannot say," said old Baldwin. "My master has gone, and there is something so terrible about the Dark Forest that shakes and shivers go through my skin. Let us go from the Dark Forest. My master, John Ball, will surely find us."
"But where can we go, Baldwin—where can we go?" said Golden Hood.
"Even now I have seen a place that marks the end of the Dark Forest," said Baldwin. "Come with me, for the darkness here makes tremors go all through me."
So Golden Hood went with Baldwin, the old mill horse. They passed the well where the cups that Philemon had given Valentine and John Ball were touching rim to rim; they passed the pool where the Nixie had stood before she drew Valentine down and into the Chamber of Green
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