“The star exploded?” asked Betsy wonderingly.
“Yes; the Magician hit it so hard.”
“And what became of the Magician?” inquired the girl.
“No one knows that,” answered Polychrome. “But I don’t think it matters much.”
“It matters a good deal, if we also hit the stars when we come out,” said Queen Ann, with a moan.
“Don’t worry,” advised Polychrome. “I believe the Magician was going the other way, and probably he went much faster than we are going.”
“It’s fast enough to suit me,” remarked Shaggy, gently removing Polychrome’s heel from his left eye. “Couldn’t you manage to fall all by yourself, my dear?”
“I’ll try,” laughed the Rainbow’s Daughter.
All this time they were swiftly falling through the Tube, and it was not so easy for them to talk as you may imagine when you read their words. But although they were so helpless and altogether in the dark as to their fate, the fact that they were able to converse at all cheered them considerably.