"I had to," replied the Goblin, with great contempt, "otherwise there wouldn't have been any on the premises."
"Oh! come, I say!" cried Sindbad; "that's my sneer, you know. Don't go to putting the point of it the wrong way."
"Take it back, if it's the only one you have," retorted the Goblin, with another wink at Davy.
"Thank you, I believe I will," replied Sindbad, meekly; and, as the little house came along just then, they all stepped in at the door as it went by. As they did so, to Davy's amazement, Sindbad and the Goblin quietly vanished, and Davy, instead of being inside the house, found himself standing in a dusty road, quite alone.
CHAPTER IX.
LAY-OVERS FOR MEDDLERS.
As Davy stood in the road, in doubt which way to go, a Roc came around the corner of the house. She was a large bird, nearly six feet tall, and was comfortably dressed, in a bonnet and a plaid shawl, and wore overshoes. About her neck was hung a covered basket and a door-key; and Davy at once concluded that she was Sindbad's house-keeper.
"I didn't mean to keep you waiting," said the Roc, leading the way along the road; "but I declare that, what with combing that lawn every morning with a fine tooth comb, and brushing those shells every evening with a fine tooth-brush, I don't get time for anything else let alone feeding the animals."