“Never mind,” observed the Owl, nodding her head sagely; “perhaps you will go some day. But why do you sit under my tree and cry?”
“Because I’m so miserable,” said Kelch, and thereupon he told the Owl all his troubles in connection with Filina. The Owl listened attentively with her head on one side, and, when he came to the end of his story, wiped her eyes with a dry leaf, for she was a very tender-hearted bird, and felt very sorry for Kelch.
“Ah, that Goblin, I know him well!” she said, when she had recovered from her emotion; “he has carried off my friend the Wicked Baron, who was no more wicked than you, except that he was too fond of gold. Ah, that was his ruin! for if it had not been for his love of money, the Golden Goblin would never have carried him off.”
“Why did he carry him off?” asked Kelch.
“Because once a year the Golden Goblin has to make the offering of a human being to the King of Fire, for if he did not, the King of Fire would invade the Realm of Gold, and destroy the kingdom of the Golden Goblin. He offered the Baron as the last victim, and the next will be Filina.”
“Filina!” cried Kelch in a tone of despair. “Oh no, it can’t be true.”
“It is true—quite true,” replied the Owl in a dignified manner. “The ring he gave you is a magic ring, and as soon as it was placed on Filina’s finger, she vanished from the earth.”
“She did—she did! but where is she now?”
“Down below in the Realm of Gold. To-morrow she will be given up as the bride of the King of Fire.”
“Cannot I save her?”