“We don’t want to see any more,” said Miranda emphatically. “We have seen enough.”
“No! No!” continued Anitoo. “Whoever comes so far as this must see our queen before he goes away.”
“A queen! A kingdom in a cave! But that is impossible!”
“I like his offer,” interposed Leighton, who understood enough to catch the meaning of this strange proposal. “Anitoo seems honest. We have lost our way. If he has a queen and a kingdom to show us, they may be worth seeing. We can be no worse off, certainly, for seeing them.”
“Once in the land of goblins and fairies,” remarked Una, “queens and kingdoms are a matter of course.”
“It is some idle mummery, I suppose,” added Leighton; “we are too near civilization for anything else. All the same, these lanterns—or whatever you call them—that they carry, are worth knowing more about.”
“What are they?”
“I would give a good deal to know.”
“Well, Senor,” said Anitoo impatiently, “you will come with us?”