Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/74

 "Circe, Circe," cried Picus the Woodpecker, running around the tree.

"But you cannot go to Circe the Enchantress until you have been through the Dark Forest," said Silvanus.

"We have heard Philemon and Baucis say that no one has gone through the Dark Forest," said Valentine and John Ball, "and so we cannot go to Circe."

"You cannot go to Circe," said Silvanus.

"But she is the only one who can tell you of the way out of the Wood of Daylight-Gone."

"Circe, Circe," cried Picus the Woodpecker, and he flew away.

They peered into the Deep Wood, but they saw no path there that they might follow. And then, feeling more lost and more lonely than when Faunus had spoken to them, they went back toward the Old Couple's House. They saw Golden Hood. "Oh, Golden Hood," said Valentine, "we will be here always, and you will be here always, and we will be children always.