Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/84

 They were all sorry that there was no present for Baldwin. Then Faunus said: "Let us put all the powers we have into a gift to the horse."

Janus opened Baldwin's mouth and Silvanus put a flower into it. Then Faunus walked around the horse three times, repeating strange verses as he walked. "What are they going to give Baldwin?" the children asked one another. "The gift of human speech," Silvanus said.

The children danced around with delight at the thought that Baldwin would be able to speak to them. Valentine and John Ball forgot that they were sorry for themselves. To have a horse that could speak human words—wouldn't that be the most wonderful of all things!

And then they all wondered what Baldwin would say. Suddenly he galloped off; he came back in a while and he opened his mouth, but the only sound that came out of it was a coughing sound. Then he galloped off again. He came back, and when he opened his mouth there