As they came back, Michael gathered a branch from the wood with the gold-spangled leaves, and now it was the eldest Princess who heard the noise that it made in breaking.
‘It is nothing,’ said Lina; ‘only the cry of the owl which roosts in the turrets of the castle.’
XI
As soon as she got up she found the branch in her bouquet. When the sisters went down she stayed a little behind and said to the cow-boy: ‘Where does this branch come from?’
‘Your Royal Highness knows well enough,’ answered Michael.
‘So you have followed us?’
‘Yes, Princess.’
‘How did you manage it? we never saw you.’
‘I hid myself,’ replied the Star Gazer quietly.
The Princess was silent a moment, and then said: