36 THE MAGIC OAK TREE

with some sign of the wicked fairy’s power,
or glean news of her from some strange
creature or in some wonderful manner. So
he plodded steadily on for some little way,
until all of a sudden he heard a voice
calling out his name—‘ Hurly-Burly !’

He stopped at once, and looked to the
right hand, from which the sound seemed to
come.

‘ Holloa!’ he said,

There was no answer, but presently the
voice again cried, ‘ Hurly-Burly !’

It was a shrill tone, and this time the
sound seemed to come from the left hand,
which rather puzzled the boy. He had not
much time, however, to be puzzled, for
another voice came from behind, and then
from right before him, and then several
voices began calling out ‘ Hurly-Burly !’ one
after the other, until the little fellow was so
puzzled that he did not know which way to
look. That which made it all the more
extraordinary was that he saw no one
near him, and he did not see how voices
could be heard without there being some-
body there with a throat through which they
came. But noone appeared, and the voices