My father gave a great sigh, and said he feared the goblins had got
you, after all, and your father and mother were dead of grief. And
he has never mentioned you since, except when wandering. I cried
very much. But one of my grandmother's pigeons with its white wing
flashed a message to me through the window one day, and then I knew
that my Curdie wasn't eaten by the goblins, for my grandmother
wouldn't have taken care of him one time to let him be eaten the
next. Where were you, Curdie, that they couldn't find you?'
'We will talk about that another time, when we are not expecting
the doctor,' said Curdie.
As he spoke, his eyes fell upon something shining on the table
under the lamp. His heart gave a great throb, and he went nearer.
Yes, there could be no doubt - it was the same flagon that the
butler had filled in the wine cellar.
'It looks worse and worse!'he said to himself, and went back to
Irene, where she stood half dreaming.
'When will the doctor be here?' he asked once more - this time
hurriedly.
The question was answered - not by the princess, but by something
which that instant tumbled heavily into the room. Curdie flew
toward it in vague terror about Lina.
On the floor lay a little round man, puffing and blowing, and
uttering incoherent language. Curdie thought of his mattock, and
ran and laid it aside.
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