Guy was fascinated at the beauty of his visitors; so much so that he never thought of hiding under the bed-clothes; but it would have been little use if he had done so, for these kind of ladies see everything, like the fairies of fairyland. They lifted him up; it was no use his struggling, for he seemed quite powerless and unable to move a limb. While they were carrying him, Guy noticed they were very pretty. Gueldine, as her companion called her, had golden hair and large brown eyes, with golden brown lashes and eyebrows, the other had chestnut brown hair, and large blue eyes, with dark brown lashes and eyebrows; her name was Crystal.
They ought to have changed eyes, he thought: but perhaps they would not have looked so nice? His eyes next went to their dresses. Gueldine’s dress was pure white, with a gold thread interwoven through it, and a gold sash with long ends. It gave her a very dazzling appearance. On her hair she wore a crescent moon of diamonds and rubies. Crystal’s dress was white, with silver interwoven, a silver sash with long ends; in her hair were stars made of diamonds and sapphires.
Away they went, over hills and water, then he caught sight of dim grey hills in the distance, as they drew nearer to them the two ladies exclaimed—“Here we are in No-Time-Land.”
They floated across to the nearest town, and placed him on a bench in the middle of one of the parks, as it was getting daylight, and said, “Good-by, little boy, we have no time to stop,” and away they went. Guy watched them till he could see them no longer, and as it was fast getting daylight, and things were becoming clearer every minute, he roused himself, as he found now he could move, and looked around. Dear me! What a dreadful untidy-looking place; and so it was, for papers were lying about everywhere. In the centre of the square was a fountain, but it was broken; the wall round the basin was crumbling and falling to pieces; the water seemed stagnant, the flower beds, and grass lawns were overgrown with weeds, and everything looked sadly neglected and forlorn. A boy came sauntering along, so Guy said to him—“Boy; why does your park look so neglected and untidy?” The boy stared at him.
“Are you a stranger?” he asked at last.
“Yes,” said Guy.
“Well,” said the other; “no one has time here to put it right.”
“Are they so busy,” asked Guy.
“Too busy to answer your questions,” replied the other, and walked off.