He
crawled to it, and found that they had heaved a slab against the
mouth of the hole, past the edge of which a poor little gleam found
its way from the fire. He could not move it a hairbreadth, for
they had piled a great heap of stones against it. He crawled back
to where he had been lying, in the faint hope of finding his
pickaxe, But after a vain search he was at last compelled to
acknowledge himself in an evil plight. He sat down and tried to
think, but soon fell fast asleep.
CHAPTER 19
Goblin Counsels
He must have slept a long time, for when he awoke he felt
wonderfully restored - indeed almost well - and very hungry. There
were voices in the outer cave.
Once more, then, it was night; for the goblins slept during the day
and went about their affairs during the night.
In the universal and constant darkness of their dwelling they had
no reason to prefer the one arrangement to the other; but from
aversion to the sun-people they chose to be busy when there was
least chance of their being met either by the miners below, when
they were burrowing, or by the people of the mountain above, when
they were feeding their sheep or catching their goats.
Pages:
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157