Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/111

 the well and the pool. He called out Valentine's name. He saw a comb on the ground—it was the comb that Golden Hood had worn. And then he saw a girdle. It was the girdle that Golden Hood had worn. Golden Hood was near; surely Valentine and Golden Hood were near him and they were together. Leaving Baldwin behind him John Ball went on and on calling out "Valentine, Valentine," "Golden Hood, Golden Hood," but no voices came back to him.

Now there were in the Dark Forest wild men who were called Satyrs. And every year some one of a band of robbers would come into the Dark Forest and join the Satyrs. These robbers would sit together and eat meats of different kinds and amongst the meats there would be the meat of a wolf. Whoever amongst the robbers ate the wolf meat would change into a Satyr and he would be a Satyr for the whole of a year.

As John Ball went through the Dark Forest calling out the names of Valentine and Golden