Ah, if they had but known it, that speech showed they were a good distance on the road to “home.” As they spoke the Fairy appeared and told them they must rub out the awful words, and then bury the rolls in the garden. It was not very difficult work, only tedious, and the more they rubbed, the sorrier they became for having said such words. When three rolls were cleaned, they each shouldered one, and bore them through the open French window, and down a long winding path, which led to a flower garden quite out of sight of the room in which they had worked at the rubbing. There were many mounds in this garden, and on each grew pretty flowers.
The Princes set to work to dig a hole for each bundle. This was quite a fresh kind of labour for them, and at first they thought it great fun to use a pick and shovel, but, before long, each Prince felt his back aching rather badly. The pain grew greater and greater until at last the grumbling began. It did not go on very long, however, for the sight of the three rolls, tumbling along the garden path, making straight for the house, made them remember the Fairy’s caution about grumbling. At once they ran after the rolls meaning to bring them back, but no matter how fast they ran, the rolls kept some distance in front of them, and reached the house first.
“Positively no more grumbling for me,” remarked Prince Richard.
“Nor for me.”
“Nor for me,” echoed his brothers.
When they had carried the rolls back once more, and had dug until their backs ached, they wisely lay down on the ground and rested, then set to work again, and soon finished the digging and buried the rolls.
When they brought the second lot of rolls to be buried, they were delighted to see pretty roses growing out of the mounds where they had buried their first burdens.
At last, after many weeks of patient work, the room was cleared of rolls, and the Princes waited for the Fairy to appear, or for the Stick to come and lead them to another room. Neither of these things happening, and seeing the door of the room open (it had been closed while they worked at the rubbing) they went out into the great hall. Every door on either side of the hall was open, and boys of all sizes were hurrying along, either coming out of the rooms, running along the hall, or going out of the big door at the end, while an old man, bent nearly double, rang a big bell and called loudly:
“Examination day is here, hurry to the Examination room, the Fairies are waiting there.”
He kept on repeating this, as he walked up and down, and the Princes quite meant to go to the Examination, but their attention was attracted by a queer-looking boy whose arms flapped about as if he thought they were wings, whose head was rather like a big bluebottlefly’s, and who seemed to be trying to climb up the wall, at the same time making a buzzing noise with his mouth.