Hardly, however, had he begun his 'One, two, three!' when they broke asunder, scurried away, and were out of sight.

He returned laughing, got into bed again, and was fast asleep in a moment.
Reflecting a little over the matter in the morning, he came to the conclusion that, as nothing of the kind had ever happened before, they must be annoyed with him for interfering to protect the princess.

By the time he was dressed, however, he was thinking of something quite different, for he did not value the enmity of the goblins in the least.
As soon as they had had breakfast, he set off with his father for the mine.
They entered the hill by a natural opening under a huge rock, where a little stream rushed out.

They followed its course for a few yards, when the passage took a turn, and sloped steeply into the heart of the hill.

With many angles and windings and branchings-off, and sometimes with steps where it came upon a natural gulf, it led them deep into the hill before they arrived at the place where they were at present digging out the precious ore.