in sore displeasure.

To homesick Robin he brought news of the family who mourned him as
dead. He stole a silky tress of Janet's fair hair, and wondered to see
the boy weep over it; for brotherly affection is a sentiment which
never yet penetrated the heart of a brownie. The dull little sprite
would gladly have helped the poor lad to his freedom, but told him
that only on one night of the year was there the least hope, and that
was on Hallow-e'en, when the whole nation of fairies ride in
procession through the streets of earth.

So Robin was instructed to spin a dream, which the kind brownie would
hum in Janet's ear while she slept. By this means the lassie would not
only learn that her brother was in the power of the elves, but would
also learn how to release him.

Accordingly, the night before Hallow-e'en, the bonnie Janet dreamed
that the long-lost Robin was living in Elf-land, and that he was to
pass through the streets with a cavalcade of fairies. But, alas! how
should even a sister know him in the dim starlight, and among the
passing troops of elfish and mortal riders? The dream assured her that
she might let the first company go by, and the second; but Robin would
be one of the third:--

"First let pass the black, Janet,
And syne let pass the brown;
But grip ye to the milk-white steed,
And pull the rider down.

For _I_ ride on the milk-white steed,