Publisher's Synopsis
'Don't stir from the fireplace to-night, ' said old Peggy, 'for the wind is blowing soviolently that the house shakes; besides, this is Hallow-e'en, when the witches are abroad, and the goblins, who are their servants, are wandering about in all sorts of disguises, doingharm to the children of men.''Why should I stay here?' said the eldest of the young people. 'No, I must go and see whatthe daughter of old Jacob, the rope-maker, is doing. She wouldn't close her blue eyes allnight if I didn't visit her father before the moon had gone down.''I must go and catch lobsters and crabs' said the second, 'and not all the witches andgoblins in the world shall hinder me.'So they all determined to go on their business or pleasure, and scorned the wise adviceof old Peggy. Only the youngest child hesitated a minute, when she said to him, 'You stayhere, my little Richard, and I will tell you beautiful stories.'But he wanted to pick a bunch of wild thyme and some blackberries by moonlight, andran out after the others. When they got outside the house they said: 'The old woman talksof wind and storm, but never was the weather finer or the sky more clear; see howmajestically the moon stalks through the transparent clouds!'Then all of a sudden they noticed a little black pony close beside them.'Oh, ho!' they said, 'that is old Valentine's pony; it must have escaped from its stable, andis going down to drink at the horse-pond.''My pretty little pony, ' said the eldest, patting the creature with his hand, 'you mustn'trun too far; I'll take you to the pond myself.'With these words he jumped on the pony's back and was quickly followed by his secondbrother, then by the third, and so on, till at last they were all astride the little beast, down tothe small Richard, who didn't like to be left behind.On the way to the pond they met several of their companions, and they invited them allto mount the pony, which they did, and the little creature did not seem to mind the extraweight, but trotted merrily alo