2. °Benighted was an ancient dame,
And fearful haste she made

To gain the vale of Fakenham,
And hail its willow shade.

3. The dappled herd of grazing deer
That sought the shades by day;
Now started from her path with fear,
And gave the stranger way.

4. Darker it grew, and darker fears
Came o'er her troubled mind;

When now, a short quick step she hears
Come patting close behind.

5. She turned; it stopped!-nought could she see Upon the gloomy plain,

But as she strove the sprite to flee,
She heard the same again.

6. Now terror seiz'd her quaking frame:
For, where the path was bare,
The trotting ghost kept on the same!
She mutter'd many a prayer.

7. Yet once again, amidst her fright,
She tried what sight could do;

When through the cheating glooms of night A monster stood in view.

8. Regardless of whate'er she felt,

It follow'd down the plain !

She owned her sins, and down she knelt,
And said her prayers again.

9. Then on she sped; and hope grew strong,
The white park gate in view;

Which pushing hard, so long it swung
That ghost and all pass'd through.

10. Loud fell the gate against the post!
Her heartstrings like to crack:
For much she feared the grisly ghost
Would leap upon her back.

11. Still on, pat, pat, the goblin went,
As it had done before;

Her strength and resolution spent ;
She fainted at the door.

12. Out came her husband, much surprised;
Out came her daughter dear;
Good natured souls! all unadvised

Of what they had to fear.

13. The candle's gleam pierced through the night, Some short space o'er the green;

And there the little trotting sprite
Distinctly might be seen.

14. An ass's foal had lost its °dam
Within the spacious park;

And, simple as the playful lamb,
Had followed in the dark.

15. No goblin he; no imp of sin;
No crimes had ever known :

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

16. His little hoofs would rattle round Upon the cottage floor;

The matron learned to love the sound

That frightened her before.

17. A favorite the ghost became,

And 'twas his fate to "thrive;
And long he lived, and spread his fame,
And kept the joke alive.

18. For many a laugh went through the vale,
And some conviction, too ;-

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

BLOOMFIELD.

1. AN Arab and his tribe attacked in the desert a caravan of Damascus. The victory was complete, and the Arabs were already occupied in taking possession of their rich booty, when the cavaliers of the Pacha of Acre came up, and falling suddenly on the victorious Arabs, killed a great number and took