292 THE GOLD OF FAIRNILEE.

 

and she was dressed in green, and she beckoned
to Randal to mount on her horse, with her
before him on the pillion. And the bells on
the bridle rang, and the horse flew faster than
the wind.

So they rode and rode through the summer
night, and they came to a desert place, and
living lands were left far behind. Then the
Fairy Queen showed him three paths, one
steep and narrow, and beset with briars and
thorns: that was the road to goodness and
happiness, but it was little trodden or marked
with the feet of people that had come and gone.

And there was a wide smooth road that went
through fields of lilies, and that was the path
of easy living and pleasure.

The third path wound about the wild hill-
side, through ferns and heather, and that was
the way to Elfland, and that way they rode.
And still they rode through a country of dark
night, and they crossed great black rivers, and
they saw neither sun nor moon, but they heard
the roaring of the sea. From that country
they came into the light, and into the beautiful
garden that lies round the castle of the Fairy
Queen. There they lived in a noble company
of gallant knights and fair ladies. All seemed
very mirthful, and they rode, and hunted, and
danced; and it was never dark night, nor
broad daylight, but like early summer dawn
‘before the sun has risen.