II.   THE REALM OF GOLD.

It was now night-time once more, and the wood was again full of merry faeries, but Kelch was too much taken up with his own sorrows to notice them, although the pranks they played would have amused the saddest person in the world. However, when things are at their worst they generally begin to mend, as Kelch soon found out, for, while he was lamenting his evil fortune, the Owl put her head out of the hole in the oak tree and hooted loudly, “Tu-whit! tu-whoo!” Kelch looked up, and, knowing owls to be wise birds, fond of word-twistings, made instant reply.

“True wit I have not owing to my sorrow, and I go not to woo because Filina has been taken from me.”

“Very neat indeed,” replied Mrs. Owl politely. “I see you have the real court air.”

“It must be natural, then,” said Kelch, with a sigh, “because I’ve never been to court.”

“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?”

“I don’t know,” said the Owl reflectively. “If your heart is strong, and you don’t feel afraid, perhaps you may.”

“Oh, I’m not afraid!” cried Kelch quickly. “Do help me to save her, dear Mrs. Owl—please do!”

“I’ll help you to save Filina and punish wicked old Hocky on one condition,” said the Owl slowly; “and that is that you never cut down my oak tree yourself, or let any one else cut it down.”

“Oh, I’ll promise that,” answered Kelch earnestly. “Your oak tree will always be safe.”

“Then you keep your promise and I’ll keep mine,” cried the Owl. “Now, first you must get to the Realm of Gold.”

“But how?”

“Don’t be impatient, and I’ll tell you. The way to the Realm of Gold is down the trunk of this oak tree, so if you climb up to my nest, I’ll show you how to crawl down.”

“But I’m too big,” said Kelch, looking at his sturdy figure.

“Oh, that will be all right; climb up to my nest, and as you climb you’ll grow smaller.”

Kelch lost no time in obeying Mrs. Owl, and started to climb up the great trunk of the oak tree. As he did so, he found himself shrinking every minute, and when he arrived at the nest he was only two feet high, and able to enter the hole without bowing his head.

The Owl received him very graciously, and showed him her home, which was beautifully furnished with dry grass, and curtains of green moss.

“These are my books,” said Mrs. Owl, showing him some dried leaves; “for I read a great deal—it improves my mind. The Faery Minervetta gave me these beautiful volumes.”

“They look like dried leaves,” observed Kelch.

“To you; yes, because you are a mortal, but I am a faery owl, and can read faery books. However, there’s no time to be lost, or Filina will become the bride of the King of Fire, and then I cannot help you. Now, take this phial of water.”

“What good will it do?” asked Kelch, putting the phial in his pocket.

“A great deal of good,” replied the Owl severely; “all the subjects of the Golden Goblin are mortals who are discontented with their lot, and want gold to buy all sorts of bad things; that phial contains the water of contentment, and if you sprinkle it over the men and women you find in the Realm of Gold, they will grow satisfied with their station in life, and not want any gold; therefore the Goblin will lose all his subjects. When he sees that, he’ll soon make terms with you, and then you can demand back Filina.”

“I understand,” said Kelch; “but how do the men and women get to the Realm of Gold if they are mortal?”

“They go in their dreams,” replied the Owl. “When they are awake during the day they live on earth, but at night in their sleep they go down to the Realm of Gold to be the slaves of the Golden Goblin; and, indeed, many of them are his slaves in the day as well as in the night. Now go away at once, or you’ll be late.”

Kelch thanked the kind Owl, and, going through a little door at the back of the nest, commenced to clamber down the inside of the oak tree trunk, while the Owl resumed her studies.

“I’ve saved my tree,” said the Owl to herself sagaciously; “no one will cut it down now. Ah, there’s no doubt I’m really a very wise owl!”

And indeed she was; for she had gained by kindness what she never would have gained by force, which shows that it is best to be gentle in all things if we want to be successful.

Meanwhile, Kelch, being completely in the dark, did not know his way, and in spite of all his care suddenly slipped and fell right down the centre of the tree trunk. However, as he was in Faeryland, he felt no fear, for, indeed, he was falling quite gently, as the air was so heavy, and he was so small and light. Down, down he fell through the darkness, till at last he came bump upon a cushion of moss which was at the foot of the tree. Here there was a faint glimmer of light, and he saw above him the mighty roots of the oak stretching out in all directions like the rafters of a huge hall. His eyes soon became accustomed to the glimmering twilight in which he now found himself, and he looked around to see where he would go next. Through the misty blue light he espied a small hole which seemed to lead downward in a gentle slope, but it was so dark that he felt rather afraid to enter into it. Suddenly he saw that the misty blue light was caused by the radiance of some decayed wood which lay about, so, catching up a piece, he advanced boldly into the hole, and soon discovered that it gave him sufficient light to see a short distance before him.

Kelch was now in a narrow tunnel, the sides, floor, and roof of which were nothing but rough rock, but as he advanced these commenced to glisten with jewels, until they reflected the light of his decayed wood torch so brightly, that he walked in the centre of a brilliant blaze. At last the passage ended suddenly at a deep hole, up which rushed a current of warm air. There seemed no way of getting down, but Kelch, remembering his experience in the oak tree, never hesitated for a moment, but flung himself boldly into the hole. The warm air bore him up, and he fell gently for a long time, seeing the sides of the hole rushing past him one blaze of light, like a splendid jewel. The air grew hotter and hotter as he fell, until at length he tumbled right into the centre of a heap of gold dust, which made him sneeze dreadfully. All around him was a soft golden light, such as he had seen in the treasure vault of the Wicked Baron; so, throwing away his useless torch, he jumped to his feet and looked about him.

He was now in the middle of a large plain, and could see neither the sides nor the roof of what he thought must be a cavern, as it was below the earth, but only a soft gold mist floating above him, and surrounding him on all sides, while the ground was covered with fine glittering gold dust, in which lay great rocks and stones of pure yellow gold, gleaming dully in the subdued yellow twilight.

It was truly a wonderful place, and what was more wonderful was, that Kelch now found he had grown again to his natural size; so, very satisfied with everything, he marched along over the plain to look for the Golden Goblin.

For a long time the plain was quite lonely, and then he saw one or two people in the distance; shortly afterwards, some more, until at length he found himself among a great crowd of shadows. Kelch knew they were dream-shadows, although they looked like flesh and blood men and women, and he moved through the dense mass quite unnoticed, so intent were they on their occupations. These consisted in picking up nuggets of gold from the ground and putting them in their pockets; but Kelch noticed that all their pockets had the bottoms cut off, so that when the nuggets were put in, they simply fell through to the ground once more. Some of the shadows wore chains of gold, of which they seemed very proud, and not one person paid any attention to another, but each bent eagerly down gathering up the gold, and putting it into their bottomless pockets. There were old white-headed men, palsied elderly women, men in the prime of life, and beautiful maidens; but all their faces wore the same eager expression, as they clutched the shining gold.

Kelch could not help pitying them as they worked at their fruitless tasks, but he knew they did it of their own free will, so that the work which appeared a pain to him was a pleasure to them.

Suddenly he recollected the phial given to him by the Owl, and, as he did not see anything of the Goblin, pulled it out of his pocket and began to sprinkle the water of contentment on the avaricious shadows.

Every time a drop fell on one of them, that shadow vanished, and Kelch knew that it had returned to its sleeping body on earth, quite contented with its station in life, and would look no more for gold.

Hundreds of shadows vanished as he sprinkled them with the water of contentment, when all at once a quiver passed through the crowd, and before Kelch had time to wink, the Golden Goblin, with his eyes blazing with rage, stood before him, looking uglier than ever.

“Ho! ho!” cried the Goblin furiously; “it is you who are trying to rob me of my subjects—but I’ll give you to the King of Fire. Seize him at once!”

A crowd of grotesque goblins, all very like their master, rushed forward and tried to seize Kelch, but he sprinkled them with the magic water, which burnt like fire, and they all tumbled back in a confused mass. The Golden Goblin stamped with rage, but was afraid to come near Kelch, lest he also should be sprinkled with the water of contentment.

“What do you want?” he shouted, as Kelch paused for a moment. “I told you we would meet again—but what do you want?”

“You know well enough,” retorted Kelch coolly. “I want Filina—you stole my Filina from me.”

“She’s mine now,” said the Goblin in a grumbling tone, “and I’m going to give her as a bride to the King of Fire; besides, I paid you well for her—you took a lot of gold.”

“Yes, but that was a present,” cried Kelch hotly. “I never said I would let you steal my future wife; I want Filina, not your gold.”

“Don’t want gold!” said the Goblin in astonishment; “you are the first mortal I ever heard say that.”

“I’ve got no time to talk,” observed Kelch, raising the phial, “so if you don’t give me back my Filina, I’ll leave you without a single subject.”

“Stop, stop!” cried the Goblin in consternation; “don’t do that. Come with me to my palace, and I will give you back your Filina—on conditions.”

“I won’t make any conditions,” said Kelch, as they walked along; “I want my Filina, and nothing else.”

The Golden Goblin grinned angrily at this, but as Kelch had the phial, and could make his subjects vanish, he was afraid to say anything as they glided rapidly along to the palace. It was gliding and not walking, for Kelch found that though his legs did not move, still he seemed to be approaching nearer to the great gold castle in which the Goblin held his court.

It was all built of shining gold, with innumerable towers, and huge windows of diamond glass. There was a great flight of steps leading to the front door, and the Goblin ran up these, followed by Kelch, until at length they came to a great hall with many golden pillars, and an immense domed roof all glittering with jewels.

The Goblin went to the end of this hall, and, having seated himself upon his throne, which was cut out of one gigantic diamond, he offered Kelch a goblet filled with liquid gold.

“I won’t drink that,” said Kelch, and dashed the goblet out of the little man’s hand.

“Just as well you refused,” replied the Goblin complacently, pointing to a golden statue that stood near the throne, “or you would have become like that.”

Kelch turned to examine the statue, and saw to his grief that it was pretty Filina thus changed. Every hair of her head, every fold of her dress was there, but she was nothing but a stiff golden statue.

“I can’t take my Filina back like this,” he cried, turning to the Goblin, who sat on his throne grinning at Kelch’s sorrow.

“I don’t mean you to,” retorted the Goblin; “it’s far too valuable a statue to give to you.”

“Filina is still more valuable.”

“Would you rather have Filina than all that gold?”

“Yes, a thousand times!” said Kelch boldly.

The Goblin looked rather discomfited at this, and nodded several times as if puzzled.

“You’re too good for me,” he observed at length; “I can gain no power over you. But if I give you back Filina, how am I to pay my yearly tribute to the King of Fire? If I don’t do it, he will burn all my kingdom to cinders.”

“He can’t burn it to cinders when it’s all gold,” cried Kelch; “but can’t I find you a substitute for Filina?”

“Ah, that’s a good idea!” screamed the goblin, while all his ugly little courtiers jumped with joy at this solution of the problem. “Bring me Hocky, and I’ll give you Filina.”

“But what will you do to Hocky?” asked Kelch anxiously, for even to rescue Filina he was unwilling to bring harm to any one else.

“I’ll give him to the King of Fire.”

“But he’ll be burnt up.”

“Only the bad part of him,” said the Golden Goblin; “all that is good in him will not be touched by the fire. When he is quite purified by the fire, he will be allowed to return to earth again, and instead of being a bad man as he is now, he will be very good.”

“In that case I don’t mind,” replied Kelch, much relieved. “But how am I to give you Hocky in exchange for Filina?”

“Oh, that’s easily done,” said the Goblin, holding out to Kelch a cup filled with some liquor which sparkled like diamonds. “Drink this, and you will be immediately transported back to your cottage. There you will find Filina, who will still be a statue of gold. Get Hocky to pull off the ring that is on her finger and put it on one of his own, then Filina will become flesh and blood once more, and Hocky will vanish.”

“Where to?” asked Kelch, taking the cup of diamond water from the Goblin.

“Down here,” replied the Goblin, grinning; “then I’ll give him to the King of Fire, and when all the bad is burnt out of him, he’ll go back to earth again. Come, drink up.”

“No tricks,” said Kelch, placing the goblet to his lips.

“On the honour of a king,” answered the Goblin, placing his yellow hand on his yellow breast; “but be quick, for there’s no time to be lost.”

So Kelch drained the goblet to the dregs, and as he did so all the golden palace seemed to spin round and round as he fell down on the ground. He knew nothing more that happened till he woke up, feeling quite bright and gay, when he found himself lying on the floor of his own cottage, and the morning sun shining through the window.