They flew around fast and faster, till Ellie could not tell one from another. They looked like a streak on the snow.
"Dear me, how dizzy they will get! Poor Alicia will certainly have the headache," thought Ellie; but still quicker went the music, and still faster flew the dancers. All of a sudden Ellie was startled by a loud "caw." She felt some one shaking her shoulder, and a voice in her ear said, "Wake up, Miss Ellie, wake up. The hall clock has just struck half past nine, and to think of your being out of bed at this hour! What will your mamma say? That giddy-pate Sarah told me she would undress you, for I was called away."
"I am so glad," said sleepy little Ellie, "for I have seen the merry-go-round."
Nurse gathered her up in her arms, and bore her to the nursery.
"Nursey," asked Ellie, "are English hares better than our rabbits?"
"Yes, miss, much better for soup."
"Soup!" cried Ellie; "how dreadful, when he was so beautifully dressed!"
"Yes," said nurse, "we like to have them dressed; they are so hard to skin."
"What do you mean?" exclaimed Ellie. "He wore such a beautiful long coat, and had on a locket and three rings."
"Dear me," thought nurse, "she has been in the moonlight so long I am afraid it has turned her brain. She certainly seems a little looney. The sooner she is undressed and in her bed, the better."