Page:The Children Who Followed the Piper.djvu/90

 the white-thorn trees grew the maiden went, following after it. She heard voices saying: "She is here, she is here, but the witch's sharp-pointed spindle that should pierce her is at the bottom of the deep well." Still she went on. She heard a voice that said: "She is here, the one who is as white as snow, as red as berries, and as dark as a raven's plumage. She is here, but the thorn that should pierce her is still upon the thorn tree."

And now the fawn was farther and farther away from her. Golden Hood was frightened now. Still she thought she might come beside it and that it would follow her back to the Wood of Daylight-Gone. Farther and farther she went. Then the trees became huger, and she knew she was in the Dark Forest. And in the darkness that was there the white fawn became lost.

She heard voices again. One voice said: "The witch's spindle is in the deep well." The other voice said: "The long thorn still grows upon the