WHO FOLLOWED THE PIPER
came out of it this time a neighing that sounded like words, or else words that sounded like a neighing. He came back the third time. He opened his mouth, and the children heard and knew what he said:
The ground is soft,
The trees are high
The children talk,
And so do I.
And these were the first words that old Baldwin said. The children cheered to hear the horse talk so plainly.
Valentine, the Emperor's son, and John Ball, the Miller's son, were standing together now. John Ball and Valentine looked at each other, and each thought what a good lad the other was, and each thought, too, that it was good that every day they would be together. They laid a hand on each other's shoulder. And then they saw Golden Hood walking beside the great ash trees.
White as an egg she was; her eyes were dark as the hair that fell out of her golden hood; her
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