nd
wee-e-e-moul!" (PITIFULLY.)

"How did you get such a huge, huge head?" "Much knowledge, much
knowledge!" (KEENLY.)

"What do you come for?" "FOR YOU!!!" (AT THE TOP OF THE VOICE, WITH A
WAVE OF THE ARMS AND A STAMP OF THE FEET.)

THE BENEVOLENT GOBLIN

FROM GESTA ROMANORUM (ADAPTED)

In the kingdom of England there is a hillock in the midst of a dense
wood. Thither in old days knights and their followers were wont to
repair when tired and thirsty after the chase. When one of their number
called out, "I thirst!" there immediately started up a Goblin with
a cheerful countenance, clad in a crimson robe, and bearing in his
outstretched hand a large drinking-horn richly ornamented with gold and
precious jewels, and full of the most delicious, unknown beverage.

The Goblin presented the horn to the thirsty knight, who drank and
instantly felt refreshed and cool. After the drinker had emptied the
horn, the Goblin offered a silken napkin to wipe the mouth. Then,
without waiting to be thanked, the strange creature vanished as suddenly
as he had come.

Now once there was a knight of churlish nature, who was hunting alone
in those parts. Feeling thirsty and fatigued, he visited the hillock and
cried out:--

"I thirst!"

Instantly the Goblin appeared and presented the horn.

When the knight had drained it of its delicious beverage, instead of
returning the horn, he thrust it into his bosom, and rode hastily away.

He boasted far and wide of his deed, and his feudal lord hearing thereof
caused him to be bound and cast into prison; then fearing lest he, too,
might become partaker in the theft and ingratitude of the knight, the
lord presented the jeweled horn to the King of England, who carefully
preserved it among the royal treasures. But never again did the
benevolent Goblin return to the hillock in the wood.

THE PHANTOM KNIGHT OF THE VANDAL CAMP

FROM GESTA ROMANORUM (ADAPTED)

There was once in Great Britain, a knight named Albert, strong in arms
and adorned with every virtue. One day as he was seeking for adventure,
he chanced to wander into a castle where he was hospitably entertained.

At night, after supper, as was usual in great families during the
winter, the household gathered about the hearth and occupied the time in
relating divers tales.

At last they told how in the near-by plain of Wandlesbury there was a
haunted mound. There in old days the Vandals, who laid waste the land
and sla