"It's almost under your nose," replied the little creature.
"I don't see anything at all," she said, after looking closely.
"Of course you don't," said the beetle. "It isn't a mark, you know, that any one can see with their eyes; but it's a line of enchantment, just the same, and whoever steps over it is sure to see strange things and have strange adventures."
"I don't mind that," said Twinkle.
"Well, I don't mind if you don't," returned the beetle, and by that time he had crept across the path and disappeared underneath a big rock.
TWINKLE MEETS THE BEETLE
Twinkle went on, without being at all afraid. If the beetle spoke truly, and there really was an invisible line that divided the common, real world from an enchanted country, she was very eager to cross it, as any little girl might well be. And then it occurred to her that she must have crossed the enchanted line before she met the beetle, for otherwise she wouldn't have understood his language, or known what he was talking about. Children don't talk with beetles in the real world, as Twinkle knew very well, and she was walking along soberly, thinking this over, when suddenly a voice cried out to her:
"Be careful!"
