Hardly had he uttered these words, when a chorus of laughter burst upon his astonished ears; and to his unutterable astonishment he heard a number of voices singing, to a tune he well knew, the following words:
"We don't want to hide; but by Jingo, if we do,
We've got the fern—we've got the trees—
We've got the brambles too."
And again loud laughter ran through the forest, whilst Pincher danced round the old pollard more frantically than ever.
Philip stood rooted to the ground with surprise, when a sound, somewhat different from the rest, attracted his attention; and looking round he perceived a large white owl attentively regarding him with her eyes wide open. As soon as she saw that he was aware of her presence, the owl gravely bowed her head three times, and then began to speak in a voice so exactly like that of a human being, that you would not have known the difference, unless you had actually seen her in her feathers, and been assured by the evidence of your own eyesight that she was a veritable bird. And these were the words that fell upon the ears of her astonished listener:—
"In every glade of forest lone,
Some mystic word of might is known,
Which, once pronounced, to mortals' eyes
Gives sight they have not otherwise;