'What does prejudice mean in your country?'
'Much the same, I am afraid, that it does elsewhere. What are we coming to?'
Passing slowly through the rooms, they had arrived at the great saloon, at one end of which large folding doors opened into another and smaller apartment. This smaller room was hung with green baize; candelabra shed gentle light upon it from within the doors, so placed as not to be seen from the principal room; and over the folding doors was hung a hick red curtain; rolled up now.
'What is all this?'
'O, if you wait a while,' said the witch, 'you will see further transformations—that is all.'
'And what is this for?' said the countryman, pointing to the rolled-up rend curtain.
'To hide the transformed, till they are ready to be seen.'
'But it does not hide anything,' said the countryman obtusely.
'How do they get it down?'
He went examining about the door-posts, with undoubted curiosity, till he found the mechanism attached to the curtain and touched the spring. Down fell the red folds in an instant. The man drew it up again, and let it fall again, and again drew it up.
'Very good,' he said approvingly. 'Very good. We have no such clever curtains in my country. That will do very well.'