Presently they reached some shops and small houses, and the people came out to stand at the doors and bow to Evangeline as she passed.
'Why do they do that?' asked Mary.
'If you saw a fairy-queen driving four cream-coloured ponies past your house, don't you think you would bow to show how pleased you felt?' said Sister Agatha.
'I suppose I should,' answered Mary, as they came to a gate with a cottage beside it. Out from the cottage a funny little old woman came with a face the colour of a russet apple; she curtseyed so low that her chin seemed almost to touch the ground, and she wore a red cloak. In one hand she carried a stick, and Mary wondered whether she was a witch. She opened the gate, and stood bowing as Evangeline drove through it, and when Mary looked back at her afterwards the little old woman was bowing still.
Now, the road ran through a large park, and in the distance Mary saw a great white house, a part of which shone very brightly in the sunshine.
'Is that the palace?' asked the child.
'Yes,' answered Sister Agatha, 'that is your fairy's palace.'
'Why does it shine so much?' asked Mary.
'Oh, that's to welcome the queen, you know!'
'What are those things?' exclaimed Mary the next minute; 'those funny things with trees on their heads?'