“See how she hangs her head? She will never come to anything.”
But at last she arrived at the gates of the star, and walked in; and there was the Queen of the Air-Spirits sitting in the midst of it. As soon as she saw Princess Hilda, she said:
“You have come a long way, and you look very tired. Come here and sit down beside me.”
“No, your Majesty,” replied Princess Hilda, though she was really so tired that she could hardly stand, “there is no time to be lost; where is the Diamond Water-drop?”
“That is a foolish thing to come after,” said the Queen. “However, sit down here and let us talk about it. I have been expecting you.”
But Princess Hilda shook her head.
“Listen to me,” said the Queen. “I know that you like to order people around, and to make them do what you please, whether they like it or not. Now, if you will sit down here, I will let you be Queen of the Air-Spirits instead of me; you shall carry your nose in the air, and everybody shall do what you please, whether they like it or not.”
When Princess Hilda heard this, she felt for a moment very much tempted to do as the Queen asked her. But the next moment she remembered her poor little brother Henry, standing in the thousand and first corner of Rumpty-Dudget’s tower, with his face to the wall and his hands behind his back. So she cried, and said:
“Oh, Queen of the Air-Spirits, I am so sorry for my little brother that I do not care any longer to carry my nose in the air, or to make people mind me, whether they like it or not; I only want the Diamond Water-drop, so that Henry may be saved from Rumpty-Dudget’s tower. Can you tell me where it is?”
Then the Queen smiled upon her, and said: