The mention of "witch" brought something to the Queen's mind.
"There used to be a horrible old woman who lived here with a great black cat," she said. "Perhaps she was Mrs. Hexer; but she disappeared some time ago."
"That must have been her," the prince said.
And the shepherd continued, "Ah, if you would let us sit for a while on the coping of your well, or even give us a draught of its water, we should be infinitely obliged to you."
The Queen said, "Oh, you're very welcome," and turned into the house to get her bucket, when she was astonished to see a coal-black thing with horns and a long tail sitting in the very middle of her fire.
She rubbed her eyes in surprise, and when she looked again there was only a gentleman, clad in an elegant suit of black, with his coal-black hair carefully parted in the middle and falling in sinuous lines on either side of his forehead. He held his hat in one hand, and in the other a black bag and long narrow book.
"Oh, good morning, Mrs. Hexer," he said. "You will excuse my liberty; but I saw you were agreeably engaged, and so I took the opportunity of slipping in by the back way."
"I didn't know there was a back way," the Queen said.
"The chimney, I should have said, Mrs. Hexer," the gentleman said.
"But I'm not Mrs. Hexer," the Queen replied.