“THE LORD HIGH STEWARD AND HIS DOG WENT DOWN BEFORE THE RUSH.”
I am sure the result would have been terrible had not Aunt Rivette suddenly come to the children’s rescue. She threw one lean arm around Bud and the other around Fluff, and then, quickly fluttering her wings, she flew with them to the roof of the palace, which they reached in safety.
The lord high steward and his dog went down before the rush, and the next moment old Tallydab was crying loudly for mercy, while Ruffles limped away to a safe spot beneath a bench under an apple-tree, howling at every step and shouting angry epithets at the Roly-Rogues.
“I wonder what’s the matter with the cloak,” gasped Bud. “The old thing’s a fraud; it didn’t work.”
“Something went wrong, that’s certain,” replied Fluff. “You’re sure you hadn’t wished before, aren’t you?”
“Yes, I’m sure,” said Bud.
“Perhaps,” said Aunt Rivette, “the fairies have no power over these horrible creatures.”
“That must be it, of course,” said the princess. “But what shall we do now? Our country is entirely conquered by these monsters; so it isn’t a safe place for us to stay in.”
“I believe I can carry you anywhere you’d like to go,” said Aunt Rivette. “You’re not so very heavy.”