gambols, to the very centre of
the Fairies' Chapel.

Ralph, puissant and valorous upon his own hearthstone, felt his
courage fast oozing out at elbows when he saw the cold moonlight
streaming through the branches above him, and their crawling shadows
on the grotesque rocks at his side.

He was now alone, shivering from cold and fright. He felt as though
undergoing the unpleasant process of being frozen to the spot,
consciously metamorphosing into stone, peradventure a sort of
ornamental fixture for the fairies' apartment. His great hoofs were
already immovable; he felt his hair congealing; his locks hung like
icicles; and his whole body seemed like one solid lump of ice, through
which the blood crept with a gradually decreasing current. Suddenly he
heard a loud yelping, as though the hounds were in full cry. The
sound passed right through the midst of the Fairies' Hall, and almost
close to his ear; but there was no visible sign of their presence,
except a slight movement, and then a shiver amongst the frost-bitten
boughs above the rocks. He had not power to bethink him of his
Paternosters and Ave Marias, which, doubtless, would have dissolved
the impious charm. Ralph had so neglected these ordinances that his
tongue refused to repeat the usual nostrums for protection against
evil spirits. His creed was nigh forgotten, and his "_salve_" was not
heard. Whilst he was pondering on this occurrence, there started
through a crevice a single light, like a glow-worm's lantern. Then a
tiny thing came forth, clad in white, like a miniature of the human
form, and, peeping about cautiously, ran back on beholding the
unfortunate miller bolt upright in the narrow glen.

Ralph now saw plainly that he had been enticed hither by some evil
being for no good. It might be for the malicious purpose of drawing
down upon him the puny but fearful vengeance of those irritable
creatures the fairies; and soon he saw a whole troop of them issuing
out of the crevice. As they came nearer he heard the short sharp tread
of this tiny host. One of them mounted the little pillar called the
"Fairies' Chair," round which multitudes gathered, as if waiting for
the fiat of their king. It was evident that their purpose was to
inflict a signal chastisement on him for his intrusion.

Ralph watched their movements with a deplorable look. Horrible indeed
were his anticipations. The elf on the pillar, a little wrinkled being
with a long nose, bottle-green eyes