The Rhyme blinked and looked about him, and then he spoke, still grinning broadly.
"Hello! I guess I've been forgotten, haven't I? But somebody seems to have brought me back. Well, there's the old gander, same as ever." He ran over and caught hold of the gander's bridle. "Give me a ride?" he asked.
"Yes, I'm going to carry you back with me."
"Oh, goody, goody!" And the Rhyme hopped up and down as though its toes were made of rubber.
But Ellen looked anxious. "I wonder how we're all to get back," she said, with a glance at the Fairy Tale. "I don't believe the gander can carry us all."
"Oh, you're not going back with me," he answered. "The journey's too long for that, and there's an easier way."
"Yes, a much easier way," chimed in the Queerbody. "Why, it's so easy that sometimes I go home without even trying."
Ellen wondered. "Do you? And then you have to come all that long way to get here again?"
"No, it's shorter when you know the way. Sometimes I get back in a minute. But put your ear against the wall and listen."