The miller’s wife was delighted at the prospect.
“Thank you! Thank you!” she exclaimed. “My boy’s fortune is made. He can now marry Imogene Gubb and settle down on a farm, and give up the sea forever! And his neckties will be the envy of all the men in the country. As soon as he returns I will send him to you with the bit of the cloak which you need.”
But Zixi was so anxious that nothing might happen to prevent the miller’s son from returning the necktie, that she left two of her soldiers at the mill, with instructions to bring the man to her palace the instant he returned home.
As they rode away they were all very despondent over the ill luck of their journey.
“He may be drowned at sea,” said Bud.
“Or he may lose the necktie on the voyage,” said Fluff.
“Oh, a thousand things might happen,” returned the queen; “but we need not make ourselves unhappy imagining them. Let us hope the miller’s son will soon return and restore to us the missing patch.” Which showed that Zixi had not lived six hundred and eighty-three years without gaining some wisdom.
“QUEEN ZIXI TIED THE SILVER VIAL TO THE DOG’S NECK.”