‘Of course,’ said Sep.
‘Well—I travel a good deal—I’ll keep my eyes open, and let you know if I hear anything.’
Sep spent the day holding the Princess’s [p138 hand, and feeding her at meal times; and that night the wind rattled his window and said, ‘Let me in.’
It came in very noisily, and said, ‘Well, I’ve found your Magician, he’s in the forest pretending to be a mole.’
‘How can I find him?’ said Sep.
‘Haven’t you any friends in the forest?’ asked the wind.
Then Sep remembered his friends the squirrels, and he mounted his horse and rode away to the chestnut-tree where they lived. They were charmed to see him grown so tall and strong and handsome, and when he had told them his story they said at once—
‘Oh yes! delighted to be of any service to you.’ And they called to all their little brothers and cousins, and uncles and nephews to search the forest for a mole that wasn’t really a mole, and quite soon they found him, and hustled and shoved him along till he was face to face with Sep, in a green glade. The glade was green, but all the bushes and trees around were red-brown with squirrel fur, and shining bright with squirrel eyes.
Then Sep said, ‘Give the Princess back her eyes and her hearing and her voice.’
But the mole would not.