“I don’t think that would do any good,” said the Royal Microscopist. “Give her some of this;” and he took a small flask of sherry and water from his pocket.
They poured a little between her lips, and she soon opened her eyes.
“What’s the matter?” asked the Royal Microscopist. “What frightened you?”
“It’s that old Sphinx,” said the Bathing-machine Woman, faintly; “it winked at me.”
“What!” they all cried in surprise.
“It winked at me,” persisted the Bathing-machine Woman. “I had just fetched my baby and turned round in my funny little way to say ‘Good-bye, Sphinxy dear,’ when I saw the horrid old thing wink. I’m sure it did, for I wasn’t quite certain about it at first, but, when I looked the second time, it winked its other eye. Oh dear, oh dear! I was never so frightened in all my life before; I do believe the thing is alive.”
This all sounded very mysterious, so, as soon as the Bathing-machine Woman had sufficiently recovered, they walked over to the Sphinx and had a good look at it.
It sat quite still, however, staring straight in front of it with that very knowing expression on its face that Girlie had noticed before.
“It must have been her imagination, I expect,” said the Royal Microscopist, while the Crow chuckled as though he knew more about it than he cared to say.
“Well now, let’s be off, your Majesties,” said the Wallypug, who was in a hurry to start; but there arose a serious difficulty to their doing so, for, when they had all scrambled into the car of the balloon, it would not rise with all their weight in it.