"But you shouldn't have come here," said the little lady. "This is private property, and I have placed guards to prevent anyone entering my Valleys."
"Are you the Queen?" asked the girl.
"Yes, I am Queen of all Merryland; and I cannot understand why my guards have disobeyed my orders."
"Oh, the guards were all right," said Dot. "It was we who disobeyed. But we really couldn't help it, for we had to go wherever the boat carried us."
Then she told the Queen all the story of their adventures, and of how they had been carried by accident into the Valleys of Merryland.
After she had heard the story, the little lady looked puzzled for a moment and then said, "No one who enters my kingdom should ever be allowed to leave it again, for if they did the world should soon know all about me and my people. If that happened, all our comfort and fun would be spoiled, for strangers would be coming here every day."
"Have strangers been here before?" asked Dot, timidly.
"Never," answered the Queen.
"Then what are you going to do with us?" inquired the girl.
"Really, I do not know. You see, I am so perplexed that I have stopped smiling, and that will never do in the world; for should the weather change and cool my wax, I would remain solemn until it warmed up again, and my people would then think me unworthy to be the Queen of Merryland."