Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/146

THE CHILDREN Valentine told John Ball of how he had gone down into the Nixie's pool and of how he had stayed in the Chamber of Green Moss; he told how he had remembered his quest, and of how he had won his way out of the power of the Nixie. John Ball drank water from the well, and as he did his tongue became less heavy and he was able to speak human words to Valentine. He told Valentine how, after he had eaten of the meat that the robbers had set before him, he had become like a Satyr; and he told how he had stayed in the forest by himself, often coming to the well where he had left his cup beside Valentine's cup. He told how he had come to know where Golden Hood was, and of how he had watched over her, keeping many evil things away from her. He told how he had once come near hoping that she would not be frightened of him, and of how she had been frightened, and of how old Baldwin had known him and had followed him, and of how, upon that very day, he had come upon Valentine by the well.