“Then one day as I walked through one of the secret passages, I heard someone talking, so I hastily glued my eyes to the peephole, you may be sure. But when I looked through, I did not see the Witch in the room! Instead, there stood a queer man with a tall hat and a crooked stick.
“I could not quite make out what he was saying, for he was only talking to himself and at times merely mumbled his words, but I learned enough to know that he had no business there.”
“Jingles the Magician!” cried the Princess, Gran’ma and Janey in one breath.
“You are right,” continued the Chief of Detectives. “I heard him mutter something about a book of rhymes, and he played with a queer little pouch with tassels!”
“The Magic Whistle!” cried Gran’pa and Johnny.
“I don’t know what it was,” said the Chief of Detectives. “But as I watched the queer man he took off his tall hat and coat and put them in a closet; then he took out a white wig and a great cloak and bonnet and put them on. I saw then that he and the Witch were one and the same and I knew positively that neither was our beloved Princess. I did not know what to do! At first I thought of calling the people together and telling them of what I had seen, but then, thought I, ‘Should I do that, I may never discover what has become of the Princess.’
“So I watched at the secret passage for days and days until once again I was rewarded. There was the queer man again, sitting and reading a large book and trying to memorize some verses. Then I watched him until I saw him put on a pair of spectacles. He stared for a moment for all the world like a near-sighted person. Then he skipped up and down.
“‘Someone is drinking my lemonade,’ he cried, looking through them. ‘Hooray! Now I will have someone else to work my magic on!’ And with this, he jumped upon his large book and flew right out of the window!”
“It was Janey who drank at the lemonade spring!” cried Johnny.
“I did not know that, of course,” said the Chief of Detectives. “However, when the wicked man left, I went into the room and looked about. In the pocket of the cloak which the Witch had worn, I discovered the tiny powder puff which Johnny puffed upon the Soft-Voiced Cow, or upon Mrs. Tiptoe, I should have said! I also found a tiny book of magic and a few brass buttons and other charms.