The Children of the Castle Page 5

words, and with hersister's help Ruby got on to her feet again, though looking ratherdoleful.

  "I believe it's all a trick of that horrid boy's," she said. "I wishyou hadn't made me come to see that dirty old cottage, Mavis."

  Mavis stared.

  "_Me_ make you come, Ruby?" she said. "Why, it was yourself."

  "Well, you didn't stop it, any way," said Ruby, "and you seem to havetaken such a fancy to that boy and his grandfather, and--"

  "Ruby, we must go home," said Mavis. "Try if you can get along."

  They were "hand-in-hand." There was no help for it now. Ruby tried towalk; to her surprise her ankle scarcely hurt her, and after a moment ortwo she even began urging Mavis to go faster.

  "I believe I could run," she said. "Perhaps the bone in my ankle gotout of its place and now has got into it again. Come on, Mavis."

  They started running together, for in spite of her boasting Ruby had hada lesson and would not let go of Mavis. They got on famously; theground seemed elastic; as they ran, each step grew at once firmer andyet lighter.

  "It isn't a bit slippery now, is it?" said Mavis, glowing with thepleasant exercise. "And oh, Ruby, do look up at the sky--isn't itlovely? And isn't that the evening star coming out--that blue light upthere; no, it's too early. See--no, it's gone. What could it be? Why,here we are, at the gate of the low terrace!"

  They had suddenly, as they ran, come out from the path, walled in, as itwere, among the broken rocky fragments, on to a more open space, whichat the first moment they scarcely recognised as one of the fields at thesouth side of the castle.

  Ruby too gazed about her with surprise.

  "It _is_ a quick way home, certainly," she allowed, "but I don't see anystar or blue light, Mavis. It must be your fancy."

  Mavis looked up at the sky. The sunset colours were just beginning tofade; a soft pearly grey veil was slowly drawing over them, though theywere still brilliant. Mavis seemed perplexed.

  "It is gone," she said, "but I did see it."

  "It must have been the dazzle of the light in your eyes," said Ruby. "Iam seeing lots of little suns all over--red ones and yellow ones."

  "No, it wasn't like that," said Mavis; "it was more like--"

  "More like what?" asked Ruby.

  "I was going to say more like a forget-me-not up in the sky," said hersister.

  "You _silly_ girl," laughed Ruby. "I never did hear any one talk suchnonsense as you do. I'll tell cousin Hortensia, see if I don't."

  "I don't mind," said Mavis quietly.

  CHAPTER THREE.

  THE PRINCESS WITH THE FORGET-ME-NOT EYES.

  "For, just when it thrills me most, The fairies change into phantoms cold, And the beautiful dream is lost!"

  Miss Hortensia was looking out for the little girls as they slowly cameup the terraces.

  "There you are at last," she called out. "You are rather late, mydears. I have been round at the other side, thinking I saw you go outthat way."

  "So we did," said Ruby. "We went down to the cove and along the shoreas far as --. Oh, cousin Hortensia, we have had _such_ adventures, andlast of all, what _do_ you think? Mavis has just seen a forget-me-notup in the sky."

  Miss Hortensia smiled at Mavis; she had a particular way of smiling ather, as if she was not perfectly sure if the little girl were quite likeother people. But Mavis, though she understood this far better than hercousin imagined, never felt angry at it.

  "A forget-me-not in the sky," said the lady; "that is an odd idea. Butyou must tell me all your adventures when we are comfortably settled forthe evening. Run in and take your things off quickly, for I don't wantyou to catch cold, and the air, now the sun is set, is chilly. There isa splendid fire burning, and we shall have tea in my room as I promisedyou."

  "Oh, how nice," said Ruby. "Come along, Mavis. I'm as hungry as ahawk."

  "And you'll tell us stories after tea, cousin Hortensia, won't you?"said Mavis; "at least you'll tell us about your queer dream."

  "And about mamma's going to court," added Ruby, as she dashed upstairs.For by this time they were inside the house.

  The part of the castle that the children and their cousin and the fewservants in attendance on them occupied was really only a corner of it.A short flight of stairs led up to a small gallery running round aside-hall, and out of this gallery opened their sleeping-rooms and whathad been their nursery and play-rooms. The school-room and MissHortensia's own sitting-room were on the ground-floor. To get to any ofthe turrets was quite a long journey. They were approached by the greatstaircase which ascended from the large white and black tiled hall,dividing, after the first flight, into two branches, each of which ledto passages from which other smaller stairs went upwards to the top ofthe house. The grandest rooms opened out of the tiled hall on theground-floor, and out of the passages on the first floor. From thiscentral part of the house the children's corner was shut off by heavyswing doors seldom opened.

  So when Ruby and Mavis visited the turrets they had to pass throughthese doors, and go some way along the passages, and then up one of theside stairs--up, up, up, the flights of steps getting steeper andnarrower as they climbed, till at last they reached the door of theturret-chamber itself. Of these chambers there were two, one in eachturret, east and west. The west was their favourite, partly becausefrom it they saw the sunset, and partly because it was nearer their ownrooms. They had been allowed to make a sort of private nest of it forthemselves, and to play there on rainy days when they could not get out,and sometimes in very cold or snowy weather they had a fire there, whichmade the queer old room very cheery. There were three windows in eachturret, and they were furnished in an odd, irregular way with all sortsof quaint old-fashioned furniture discarded from other parts of thecastle. In former days these turret-rooms had sometimes been used asguest-chambers when the house was very full of visitors. For the largemodern rooms and the hall I have spoken of had been added by thechildren's grandfather--a very hospitable but extravagant man. Andbefore he made these improvements there were often more guests than itwas easy to find room for.

  Ruby and Mavis were not long in taking off their out-door things and"tidying" themselves for their evening in Miss Hortensia's pleasantlittle room. They made a pretty picture as they ran downstairs, theirfair curls dancing on their shoulders, though if I were to describe toyou how they were dressed, I am afraid you would think they must havebeen a very old-world looking little pair.

  "Here we are, cousin Hortensia," exclaimed Ruby as they came in, "and Ido hope it's nearly tea-time."

  "Not quite, my dear," Miss Hortensia replied, glancing at a beautifullycarved Swiss clock which stood on the mantelpiece; "the little trumpeterwon't tell us it's six o'clock for half an hour yet--his dog has justbarked twice."

  "Lazy things," said Ruby, shrugging her shoulders, "I'd like to shakethat old trumpeter sometimes."

  "And sometimes you'd like to pat him to sleep, wouldn't you?" saidMavis. "When cousin Hortensia's telling us stories, and he says it'sbed-time."

  Miss Hortensia looked at Mavis in some surprise, but she seemed verypleased too. It was not often Mavis spoke so brightly.

  "Suppose you use up the half-hour in telling _me_ stories," said theircousin. "Mine will keep till after tea. What were all the adventuresyou met with?"

  "Oh," said Ruby, "it was too queer. Did you know, cousin, that therewas a short way home from the sea-shore near old Adam's cottage? _Such_a queer way;" and she went on to describe the path between the rocks.

  Miss Hortensia looked very puzzled.

  "Who showed it to you?" she said; for Ruby, in her helter-skelter way,had begun at the end of the story, without speaking of the boy Winfried,or explaining why they--or she--had been so curious about the old manwhom the villagers called a wizard.

  "It was the boy," Mavis replied; "such a nice boy, cousin Hortensia,with funny bluey eyes--at least they're _sometimes_ blue."

  "Oh, Mavis, do not talk so sillily," said Ruby
; "his eyes aren't a bitblue. She's got blue on the brain, cousin, she really has. Seeingforget-me-nots in the sky too! I don't think he _was_ a particularlynice boy. He was rather cool. I'm sure we wouldn't have done hisgrandfather any harm. Did you ever hear of him, cousin? Old Adam theycall him;" and then she went on to give a rather more clear account oftheir walk, and all they had seen and heard.

  Miss Hortensia listened attentively, and into her own eyes crept adreamy,