"Have you been a queen very long?" Peter inquired.
"For several years," said Mary.
"But you and I were playing together only yesterday," said poor Peter, in puzzled tones.
But Mary had turned her back to him, and was pulling a bell at the back of her throne.
Although the music was still going on, the clear tone of the bell which the Queen had rung was heard above every other sound.
The music and the dancing stopped at once.
"Come, Peter, give me your arm," said Mary. "We're going into the supper-room."
They stepped down into the hall, where all the Parsnip-men had now ranged themselves in two long rows, down the centre of which the Queen and her companion now passed, and then the Parsnip-men closed in and formed a long procession behind them.
In this way they came to the other end of the hall. The large folding-doors swung open, and Peter fancied he was looking into a large garden. But it was only another hall in which tall foreign-looking trees were planted, whilst many-tinted flowers of gorgeous colours and strange shapes hung from the walls, and hither and thither among them flitted curious birds of many hues. As in the first hall, crystal lustres with wax tapers descended from the roof, and in the middle of the room, to which they now advanced, was a long table covered with a white table-cloth, and laid out with gold and silver plate of all sorts. There were golden vases with handles, golden tankards, golden dessert-dishes filled with splendid fruits; silver plates and goblets and drinking-cups, and beside them stood crystal flasks. Hundreds of chairs were placed round the table, and in every place was a little silver knife and a plate.