Page:The Enchanted Castle.djvu/69

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THE ENCHANTED CASTLE
65

"Don't cry, dear," said Kathleen; "let me go and tell the King and Queen."

"The——?"

"Your royal father and mother."

"Oh, don't mock me!" said the poor Princess. "You know that was only a game, too, like——"

"Like the bread and cheese," said Jimmy triumphantly. "I knew that was!"

"But your dress and being asleep in the maze, and——"

"Oh, I dressed up for fun, because everyone's away at the fair, and I put the clue just to make it all more real. I was playing at Fair Rosamond first, and then I heard you talking in the maze, and I thought what fun; and now I'm invisible, and I shall never come right again, never—I know I shan't! It serves me right for lying, but I didn't really think you'd believe it—not more than half, that is," she added hastily, trying to be truthful.

"But if you're not the Princess, who are you?" asked Kathleen, still embracing the unseen.

"I'm—my aunt lives here," said the invisible Princess. "She may be home any time. Oh, what shall I do?"

"Perhaps she knows some charm——"

"Oh, nonsense!" said the voice sharply; "she doesn't believe in charms. She would be so vexed. Oh, I daren't let her see me like this!" she added wildly. "And all of you here, too. She'd be so dreadfully cross."

The beautiful magic castle that the children