“We are going to pop some popcorn,” Jenny explained, “and string it, and hang it on the tree.”
“Oh, may I help?” the Princess asked. “I haven’t popped any corn since I was a little girl.”
Jinny clasped her thin little hands. “I think it would be the loveliest thing in the world,” she said, “if you would stay.”
“Peter is going to find some one to help with the carriage, and I will stay until he comes back.”
And when Peter had gone, the Princess slipped off the long red coat, and underneath it she wore a shining silken gown and around her neck was a collar of pearls.
“And now, if you could lend me an apron,” she said, “we will pop the corn.”
But Jinny and Jenny were gazing at her speechless.
“Oh, you must be a fairy Princess,” gasped little Jinny at last.
The beautiful lady laughed joyously. “Peter calls me the Princess,” she said; “he has lived with me ever since I was a little girl. But really I am just an every-day young woman, who is going to spend Christmas with some friends in the next town.”
She dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand.