'Please will you let me in? I've brought a message from the little lady that lives here.'
There was a great shuffling in the tent after this, and a clinking and chinking of money; then a piece of the canvas was pulled aside, and a little squeaky voice called out—
'Come in, whoever you are, and let us hear what you've got to say.'
So Rosalie crept in through the canvas, and stepped into the middle of the tent.
It was a curious scene which she saw when she looked round. Three little dwarfs stood before her, dressed in the most extraordinary costumes, and far above over their heads there towered a tall and very thin giant. Not one of the tiny dwarfs came up to his elbow. On the floor were scattered tiny tables, diminutive chairs, and dolls' umbrellas, which the little people had been using in their performance.
'What is it, my dear?' said the giant loftily, as Rosalie entered.
'Please,' said Rosalie, 'I've brought a message from the little lady that belongs to this show.'
'Mother Manikin,' said one of the dwarfs, in an explanatory tone.
'Yes, Mother Manikin,' repeated the giant, and the two other dwarfs nodded their heads in assent.
'My mother's very ill,' said Rosalie, 'and she's taking care of her; and she's going to stay all night, and I was to tell you.'