FOR CHILDREN. 137

No goblin he; no imp of sin;
No crimes had ever known ;—

They took the shaggy stranger in
And reared him as their own.!

His little hoofs would rattle round
Upon the cottage floor;

The matron learned to love the sound
That frightened her before.

A favourite the ghost became
And ‘twas his fate to thrive ;

And long he lived, and spread his fame,
And kept the joke alive ;

For many a laugh went through the vale,
And some conviction too—

Each thought some other goblin tale
Perhaps was just as true.

Bloomfield

THE FAITHFUL FRIEND.

THE greenhouse is my summer seat;

My shrubs, displaced from that retreat,
Enjoyed the open air ;

Two goldfinches, whose sprightly song

Had been their mutual solace long,
Lived happy prisoners there.

1 It does not distinctly appear that they had any right to
do this,
n2