"The swans were white magic—the white Mouldiwarp of Arden did all that."
Then she told him all about the white Mouldiwarp of Arden, and how it was the badge of Arden's house—its picture being engraved on Tinkler, and how it had done all sorts of magic for Edred and Elfrida, and would do still more.
Dickie and the nurse sat most of the night talking by the replenished fire, for the tale seemed endless. Dickie learned that the Edred and Elfrida who belonged to his own times had a father who was supposed to be dead. "I am forbidden to tell them," said the nurse, "but thou canst help them, and shalt."
"I should like that," said Dickie—"but can't I see the white Mouldiwarp?"
"I dare not—even I dare not call it again to-night," the nurse owned. "But maybe I will teach thee a little spell to bring it on another day. It is an angry little beast at times, but kindly, and hard-working."
Then Dickie told her about the beginnings of the magic, and how he had heard two voices, one of them the Mouldiwarp's.
"There are three white Mouldiwarps friends to thy house," she told him—"the Mouldiwarp who is the badge, and the Mouldiwarp who is the crest, and the Great Mouldiwarp who sits on the green and white checkered field of the Ardens' shield of arms. It was the first two who talked of thee."
"And how can I find my cousins and help them to find their father?"
"Lay out the moon-seeds and the other charms, and wish to be where they are going. Then thou canst speak with them. Wish to be there a week before they come, that thou mayst know the place and the folk."
"Now?" Dickie asked, but not eagerly, for he was very tired.