As he watched the innocent, happy fays garlanded with fragrant, many-hued flowers pose and pirouette he could not deny to them with a certain grace that many enthusiasts would have pronounced most exquisite. But he had never been to dancing school, and he did not trip the light, fantastic tentacle himself.
He was greatly interested in all he saw, however, and even more so when at last he noticed Queen Titania, the Cupids, and several of the fairies leave the lithe, flushed, happy group. For Queen Titania had spied the rainbow roses, different from all the rest, and ran with eager, sparkling eyes to fill her arms with them. Little she dreamed of the danger that lurked in all their perfumed radiance. Swiftly she came, outdistancing the others, and as she bent over in sweet, innocent pillage the mean, contemptible nature of the Human Octopus manifested itself. Forgetful of his diplomatic mission, he wound his tentacles around her until she looked like a mesh-bag. When she began almost instantly to scream he grimly increased the pressure. The fairies and Cupids, horrified beyond measure by what they beheld, and helpless to aid their beloved queen, fled with wild cries.
The Human Octopus tightened his cruel grip. Titania’s head fell back, her golden hair streamed over her shoulders, her eyes distended, and she could not get her breath.
Slowly but surely the Human Octopus was strangling her!
CHAPTER VII
FLORIMEL IS ADOPTED BY
KING STANISLAUS