There was not a sound to be heard save a weird cry somewhere away on Pentire, which the little voice coming up from the bosom of her frock said was Hager howling because his subjects were telling him that he must now give up all hope of ever taking to wife his poor little prisoner. ‘You must not be afraid of whatever sounds you hear,’ continued the little voice.
‘Are we going the right way?’ asked Gerna. For the Shoes were taking them up a rough, steep road behind their cottage.
‘Yes, quite right; the Shoes know the way—trust them for that! Don’t worry about anything; only hold me as close as you can to your warm little heart. We shall have to warm each other when we come to the bog country. It is bitterly cold there.’
On and on Gerna went with her precious burden, through long lanes, up and down steep hills, over sandy commons and furze-brakes, and so fast that she could not have spoken even if she wanted to!
At last she drew near the bog lands, lying flat between two high Tors.
‘It’s terribly cold here,’ she said, when the Shoes stuck in the ground for a minute, ‘and ever so dark, except where there are little lights shining out of the dark like cats’ eyes!’ and she began to shiver with cold and fear.
‘Don’t be afraid, dear child,’ said the sweet little voice, in which there was no sadness now. ‘The hobgoblins are out in the bog, and as they are near relations of the Spriggans, they are hand in glove with them. The Spriggans feared you would pass over this bog to-night, and have set their relations to watch. But they are not so clever as they thought themselves. They know you have the Shoes, but they don’t dream you possess that wee Lantern too.’
‘Is the Lantern any good?’ asked Gerna in surprise. ‘Farmer Vivian said it was only big enough to light home a benighted dumbledory.’
‘It was a joke about the dumbledory,’ laughed the little voice. ‘It can do much more than that. It has the power of making you invisible, and its light will, if you hold it on the little finger, shine in on your heart and keep it warm.’
‘What wonderful things there are nowadays!’ exclaimed the child.