By and by she opened her eyes and found one of her sleeves was just missing the sharp point of a lightning-rod on a tower of the palace. So she began struggling and flopping anew, and, almost before she knew it, Aunt Rivette had descended to the roof of the royal stables. Here she sat down and began to weep and wail, while a great crowd gathered below and watched her.
“‘HELP! GET A LADDER!’ WAILED THE OLD WOMAN.”
“Get a ladder! Please get a ladder!” begged old Rivette. “If you don’t, I shall fall and break my neck.”
By this time Bud and Fluff had come out to see what caused the excitement; and, to their amazement they found their old aunt perched high up on the stable roof, with two great wings growing out from her back.
For a moment they could not understand what had happened. Then Margaret cried:
“Oh, Bud, I let her wear the magic cloak! She must have made a wish!”
“Help! Help! Get a ladder!” wailed the old woman, catching sight of her nephew and niece.
“Well, you are a bird, Aunt Rivette!” shouted Bud, gleefully, for he was in a teasing mood. “You don’t need a ladder! I don’t see why you can’t fly down the same way you flew up.” And all the people shouted: “Yes, yes! The king is right! Fly down!”
Just then Rivette’s feet began to slip on the sloping roof; so she made a wild struggle to save herself, and the result was that she fluttered her wings in just exactly the right way to sink down gradually to the ground.