"Every type for every part," muttered Twiffle to himself. Then, turning to the children, he whispered, "Here they are, just as I suspected—the unfortunate victims of King Ticket and Queen Curtain. They have no more life than mere dummies, until the curtain goes up and they walk on the stage to play their parts in that absurd drama."
Twiffle approached the Shaggy Man and studied him intently. At last he sighed and shook his head. "I am afraid there is nothing we can do just now," he admitted. "I learned a little magic from Conjo, and I hoped that I might be able to release the Shaggy Man, but the spell that is upon him is a strange one. I have no power to break it."
"There must surely be something we can do," said Tom, thinking of Queen Curtain's threatening speech to Twink.
"I must have time to think," said Twiffle. "At least we have discovered the whereabouts of the Shaggy Man and we know what has happened to him and all these other poor people. There must be some way to release them, if only I can hit upon it. I suggest we return to our rooms. We certainly don't want to be discovered here."
"But what about Twink?" asked Tom with dismay.
"I am hoping I can prevent Queen Curtain from making good her threat," replied Twiffle grimly.
"Oh, don't worry about me," said Twink bravely. "If worst comes to worst and I don't make a better actress than the rest of these folks, I'll be awfully disappointed in myself."