“Why, of course,” Jack gasped, very much out of breath, “this must be the Goblin’s Heath!”
CHAPTER XII
The Goblin’s Heath
The Goblin’s Heath, with its little crouching bushes and heather-clad hillocks, looked very beautiful in the moonlight. Here and there a tree rising up from the low bushes around it stood out clearly against the night sky. Toward the nearest big tree Jack and Molly made their way. It was a giant of a tree, with great gnarled trunk, and plenty of room among its lower branches for a little girl and boy to curl up and rest comfortably and safely, screened by its thick curtain of leaves.
Once they were safely hidden in the tree, Jack and Molly had time to talk matters over. They decided to stay where they were until daylight, when they could continue their search. They talked and planned for some time, and then, as their excitement wore off a little, they began to get very sleepy. Everything seemed quiet and still around them, but they would take no more risks that night, so decided to sleep in turns—one keeping watch, and waking the other up at certain intervals, or if anything happened in the meantime. They had no idea what the time was, so they arranged their intervals by the moon. When the moon reached a certain place, Jack, who undertook the first watch (protesting that he wasn’t tired), was to wake Molly up. So Molly went to sleep, after making Jack promise that he would wake her up if she showed any signs of falling out of the tree. Jack had a hard struggle to keep awake at first, but he managed it somehow, and after Molly had woken up and taken a turn at watching, and he had had a short, sound sleep, he felt much refreshed.
The time wore on and Jack was just starting his second watch, and Molly had fallen asleep again, when he heard a long rustle in one of the bushes down below. He leant forward, peering down through the branches; there was evidently something stirring inside the bush; the leaves rustled and shook, and then were thrust aside, and a queer little figure stepped out and stood on the broad footpath in the moonlight. It was a very small, quaint man, dressed in brown, with a pointed cap on his head; he gazed along the pathway for a moment, then turned and scanned the Heath in the opposite direction.
Jack gave a start as something moved in the tree beside him. But it was only Molly, awake, and wide-eyed, staring down at the little brown man with absorbed attention.
A squeal of laughter came from among the bushes a short distance away, and the next second another little man came running over the grass to the waiting figure and started talking rapidly. Their voices were very tiny, and although the sounds floated clearly up to the listeners in the tree, the words were undistinguishable. While they watched a third little man appeared, accompanied by two quaint little women, dressed in brown skirts and shawls and brown bonnets. All at once it dawned on Jack and Molly who these little people were, with the tiny, thin, dancing legs, and the elfish faces. They were goblins. And, of course, the Heath was named after them. The children had not expected to see any goblins on the heath; they had certainly thought it a picturesque name to call this part of the country, but they had not expected any reason for the name. But behold! here before their eyes were real live goblins, the first goblins they had ever seen, and they watched them, surprised and curious. More goblins now began to appear on the scene; one after another they came, darting from behind bushes, sliding down the trunks of trees or dropping from the branches, racing along the footpath, skipping over the grass, until by and by it seemed as if there were tiny brown figures scurrying to and fro on every side, appearing and disappearing, here, there, in and out; the whole Heath seemed to be alive with goblins. Such a squeaking of tiny voices, a chinking of goblin laughter, and a pattering of feet; and the goblins seemed to be all so busy and important and in a feverish haste about nothing at all.
Presently the children noticed that one of the goblins had made his way to the foot of their tree and was very busy dragging and pushing aside a big stone. He moved it away at length and disclosed a small hole in the tree trunk, close to the ground. He bent down and crawled into the hole. A scrambling and scratching began inside the tree, that sounded, as the scrambling noise became louder and nearer, as if the goblin were climbing up to the top of the trunk.
“Oh, Jack, I believe he lives in this tree,” whispered Molly. “What shall we do if he finds us up here?” You see, they were not quite sure whether the goblins were friends or enemies, or how they would be disposed to regard them.
However, they were soon to know, for a few seconds later, the scratching and scrambling having continued until it sounded close underneath where the children were crouching, the goblin popped its head up through a hole just beside Jack’s right foot. The Goblin studied the sole of Jacks shoe attentively for a moment, then his gaze travelled to Jack, whom he eyed with mild astonishment. Then he caught sight of Molly, and transferred his attention to her. The children remained silent, not knowing what to say. They could tell nothing of the Goblin’s attitude toward them from his surprised face. Then he spoke. His voice sounded very small and far away, but the children were glad to find that they could understand what he said.