Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/34

THE CHILDREN woman's child. Then there was John Ball, the Miller's son, and Valentine, the son of the Emperor. These three children went together.

Valentine, the Emperor's son, did not belong to the town; he was from a very great city indeed. But he happened to be there, and he was standing with his hand upon the neck of his white, caparisoned steed, and all dressed in his velvets, when he heard the music. He followed, going beside John Ball and little Golden Hood.

They went on together, hearing about the Ram and the Hare and the castle of Malpardus.

Then John Ball heard something that nobody else seemed to hear. He heard something behind them coming clump, clump, clump. He stopped and he looked back through the dark passage. Could that be old Baldwin, the mill horse, coming behind?

He heard the clumping, clumping, clumping, coming up to him. Indeed it was a horse that was coming. And John Ball remembered that