‘I only promised to take you back to the earth,’ said Diana.
‘But you promised to do me no harm,’ said Ernalie dismally, ‘and if you leave me in the middle of a desert you’ll do me a lot of harm.’
‘But I’m not going to put you down into the middle of a desert,’ said Diana. ‘Look, we are descending. Now, see if you recognise the country you pass over.’
The Princess looked over the edge of the chariot, and she saw that the stags were descending in great spiral curves, and at each curve the earth flew up nearer and nearer to meet them. As they got lower down Ernalie could see what was below more clearly, as if she had been looking through an opera glass, and was only just commencing to get the right focus. When they were quite close the Goddess stopped the descent of the chariot.
‘Now, do you recognise where you are?’ she asked.
But Ernalie shook her head.
‘I only see that we are over the tops of a range of mountains that have snow on their peaks,’ she said. ‘But I was never here before—that I am quite certain of.’
The Goddess shook the reins, and again the stags flew forward; but this time not so fast as they had gone before.
‘You have been here before,’ she said. ‘And at just this height, and at just this speed, only you were going in the opposite direction.’
‘Why,’ said Ernalie, ‘I must be in my own country. Oh, how cruel of you to take me away from my Prince, and you promised to do me no harm.’