“Good gracious, I should think some of them would have stayed here to look after the castle,” ejaculated Rose.
“It would scarcely beseem them to refuse battle,” returned the Princess, “and the castle is safe from attack. Unless there be evil enchantment at work. But Merlin will soon be here, and there is none so great in magic as he.”
“It would be too bad if he didn’t come,” Ruth said, as she admired the golden chain that hung round her neck and reached as far as her waist, “for the fairy came especially to see him.”
“What fairy?”
“Our fairy. Fairy Honeysqueak. You know she brought us, and she said she wanted to have a chat with Merlin.”
“Ah,” said Guinevere. “Perhaps she too will help my knights and me.”
“I guess so. But couldn’t we do something?” It was Rose that wanted to know.
“Let us go up into the tower and watch,” replied Guinevere. “Possibly some knight sore beset might fly back here, and it were well to be prepared to give him speedy ingress.”
So up into the tower they went, by a winding stairway, narrow and slippery, so worn were the stones of which it was built. Every few steps a long slit in the wall gave a glimpse of the outdoor world, a shimmer of blue and green, a flash of meadow or a glint of water shining in the sun. And presently the three girls emerged on top of the turret and were able to overlook the country between the battlements that formed a screen behind which they could keep hidden.
It was a strange sight for Rose and Ruth.