It sounded so tempting that the children accepted gladly, especially as the house hove in sight at that moment. Turning the corner they came suddenly upon it. Such a quaint, cosy little house, which lay snuggled away behind a cluster of thick bushes and trees. The lane continued for only a short distance beyond the house, then it opened out into a great wide heath—the Goblin’s Heath. The children hadn’t time to take in much of the scenery, as their companion ushered them into the garden of her house quickly. It was darker in the garden under the trees than out in the roadway, and they saw that a little light was glimmering from one of the windows of the house, which made it look very homely and comfortable. Jack and Molly followed their companion up the path to the front door.
The girl tapped twice on the front door, then, rattling the handle and calling out, “Here we are, mother!” she threw open the door and the three of them passed in.
They found themselves in a dark, narrow passage, at the end of which they could see a glow as from firelight. Their companion closed the front door and led the way along the passage.
“Here we are, mother!” she called again, and a figure appeared in the firelit opening at the end of the passage, and stood there chuckling softly.
Suddenly, Jack and Molly were afraid.
“Jack, I’m going back!” gasped Molly, and turning, both the children made for the door. But it was shut fast, and there were no handles or bolts to be found.
The girl and the figure in the firelight burst into loud laughter.
“You little sillies!” a voice cried, accompanied by another burst of laughter.
They could see the girl in green quite plainly now. She had reached the end of the passage and stood whispering to the other person. The firelight shone on both of them. The girl in green was strangely altered. No longer fresh and young and pretty—her face looked old and hard and scornful. Jack and Molly caught a few of the words she was whispering.