"As the beautiful song of welcome ceased, the angels disappeared in the sky, and the boat swang gracefully toward the shore.
"The Queen assisted the children to the beach, and they started up a dark, cool and shady path toward the centre of the island.
"As they journeyed slowly along, Arthur noticed that the air was heavily laden with the dreamy perfume of flowers; and he suggested to the Queen that perhaps this was what made everything so drowsy about the place, for he declared that the odor made him sleepy.
"There were only a few of these flowers the children had ever seen before.
"Arthur recognized the tall, blooming magnolia trees from the description of them he had once read in a book; while the tuberose, the calla lily and the lilies of the valley, both the children knew well for they had often seen them in the gardens at home. All the rest were strangers to them, and for a long time they lingered to admire their wondrous beauty.
"It was not long before they chanced to look up, and seeing a group of dilapidated, half-fallen houses in the hazy distance, moss-covered and almost hidden from view by the long branches of low-bending trees, the children turned to the Queen and asked the name of the curious-looking place.
"She informed them that the village was the home of the Sand Man, and that the name of it was 'Drowsy Town,' so named because everything about the place was half asleep.
"Often indeed had the children heard of the Sand Man, but they never expected to visit his home; so they hastened their steps and soon entered the curious village.
"The place contained but few houses, all of which were badly neglected and sadly out of repair; for who could stop to fix up houses in such a sleepy place? Beside, what do people care about the outside of a house when they are sleeping within all the time?
"The fences were mostly fallen, save here and there where a moss-covered stretch of old-fashioned wooden pickets leaned half-heartedly against their warped railings, while now and then a gate hung over on one hinge as if, like everything else, it was anxious to lie down in the dust and sleep.