Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/161

 "All the others, then, will leave the Wood of Daylight-Gone with me," said the Piper, "and you three must stay behind."

"We will stay behind," said Golden Hood.

"We will stay behind," said Valentine.

"We will stay behind," said John Ball.

Then Valentine, Golden Hood, and John Ball went apart from the others. Valentine was sad that he was not leaving the Wood of Daylight-Gone—that wood that one would never grow up in—and John Ball sat there very quietly with Baldwin's head touching his shoulder. All the children went to sleep under the great ash trees, and Valentine, John Ball, and Golden Hood went to sleep with Baldwin moving around them.

The three children sat up together. "We will leave the Wood of Daylight-Gone," Golden Hood heard Valentine say.

"Oh, do not go with them, Valentine," cried Golden Hood. She was looking at the rest of the children; they were all making ready to follow the Piper out of the wood.