So they ran hand in hand to the door and down a passage. "Faster!" cried the Princess, and George ran faster than he had ever run before.
"Faster, faster!" cried the Princess again, and on and on they sped until George wondered if there was any end at all to the passage.
Suddenly, boom! boom!—like the rolling of thunder!
"The magician is coming! Hasten, oh, hasten!" On and on they ran.
Boo-oom! Closer and closer! Faster and faster the two ran, until it seemed as if they were flying through the air.
Boom! It sounded almost in their very ears. They caught sight of a little door, so tiny you could scarcely see it, and rushed toward it; George pulled it open, pushed the Princess through, and was just going to follow her when—crash!
