'There!—don't you see it shining on before us?' she added.
'I don't see anything,' persisted Curdie.
'Then you must believe without seeing,' said the princess; 'for you can't deny it has brought us out of the mountain.'
'I can't deny we are out of the mountain, and I should be very ungrateful indeed to deny that you had brought me out of it.'
'I couldn't have done it but for the thread,' persisted Irene.
'That's the part I don't understand.'
'Well, come along, and Lootie will get you something to eat. I am sure you must want it very much.'
'Indeed I do. But my father and mother will be so anxious about me, I must make haste—first up the mountain to tell my mother, and then down into the mine again to let my father know.'
'Very well, Curdie; but you can't get out without coming this way, and I will take you through the house, for that is nearest.'
They met no one by the way, for, indeed, as before, the people were here and there and everywhere searching for the princess. When they got in Irene found that the thread, as she had half expected, went up the old staircase, and a new thought struck her. She turned to Curdie and said: