drawn them in.
"Oh Winfried," exclaimed Ruby; "the dear little boat, it's drifting out,it will be lost. Can't you jump into the water and drag it back?"
"It's all right," said the boy. "It's going home till it's neededagain. I only wanted you to see how quietly it goes off, once itsbusiness is done."
And he turned and began to whistle softly as he went on up the steps.
"_Now_," said Ruby, half triumphant and half frightened, in a whisper toMavis, "now, can you say he's not a wizard? I think cousin Hortensiawas very silly to let us come with him, but it was all you, Mavis, goingon about him so. If we're not turned into toads or lizards before weget home, I--"
"Butterflies would be nicer," said Mavis, laughing.
"I'll ask Winfried and his gran to make me into a blue butterfly, andyou can be a yellow one if you like."
She seemed to have caught something of Winfried's happy confidence, Rubylooked at her in surprise, but it was mixed with anger. What she wasgoing to have said I don't know, for just then their guide called outagain.
"Here we are," he said, "if you'll stoop your heads a little;" andlooking up, the children saw before them a narrow, low archway, at theentrance to which the steps stopped. Ruby hung back a little, but Mavisran forward.
"It's all right, Ruby," she called back; "and oh, what a pretty garden!Do come quick."
Ruby followed. It was only necessary to stoop for a moment or two, thenshe found herself beside her sister, and she could not help joining inher exclamation of pleasure. Somehow or other they had arrived at theback of the cottage, which at this side, they now saw, stood in a prettyand sheltered garden. Perhaps garden is hardly the word to use, forthough there were flowers of more than one kind and plants, there wereother things one does not often see in a garden. There were ever somany little bowers and grottoes, cleverly put together of differentkinds of queerly-shaped and queerly-coloured fragments of rock; therewere two or three basins hollowed out of the same stones, in which clearwater sparkled, and brilliant seaweed of every shade, from delicate pinkto blood-red crimson, glowed; there were shells of strange and wonderfulform, and tints as many as those of the rainbow, arranged so that at alittle distance they looked like groups of flowers--in short, Ruby wasnot far wrong when returning to her old idea, she whispered to Mavis,"It's a _mermaid's_ garden."
"And I only hope," she went on in the same tone, "we shan't find thatsomehow or other he has got us down under the sea without our knowing."
Mavis broke into a merry laugh.
"Don't be afraid," she said. "Look up; there's the good old sun,smiling as usual, with no water between him and us. And see here,Ruby," and she ran forward, "there are earth flower's too, as well assea ones."
She was right; on a border sheltered by the wall of the cottage weregreat masses of fern, still green and luxuriant, and here and thereamong them clumps, brilliantly blue, of the tender, lovingforget-me-not.
"It's _just_ like that bunch of it we found on our terrace," said Mavis,joyfully. "I really could believe you had brought a root of it andplanted it there for us, Winfried. I never saw such beauties."
"Gran loves it," was all the boy said. Then he led them round to thefront of the house, and opened the door for them to enter.
Inside the cottage all was very plain, but very, very neat and clean.In an old-fashioned large wooden arm-chair by the fire sat old Adam. Helooked very old, older than the children had expected, and a kind of awecame over them. His hair was white, but scarcely whiter than his face,his hands were unusually delicate and refined, though gnarled andknotted as are those of aged people. He looked up with a smile, for hissight was still good, as his visitors came in.
"You will forgive my not standing up, my dear little ladies," he said."You see I am very old. It is good of you to come to see me. I haveoften seen you, oftener than you knew, since you were very tiny things."
"Have you lived here a long time, then?" asked Ruby.
"It would seem a long time to you, though not to me," he said with asmile. "And long ago before that, I knew your grandmother and the ladywho takes care of you. When I was a young man, and a middle-aged mantoo for that matter, my home was where theirs was. So I remember yourmother when she was as little as you."
"Oh, how nice," exclaimed Mavis. "Was our mother like us, Mr Adam?"
"You may be very like her if you wish," he said kindly.
But their attention was already distracted. On a small table, closebeside the old man's chair, in what at first sight looked like adelicate china cup, but was in reality a large and lovely shell, was aposy, freshly gathered apparently, of the same beautiful forget-me-nots.
"Oh, these are out of your garden," said Ruby; "how do you manage tomake them grow so well and so late in the year?"
"The part of the garden where they grow is not mine," said Adam quietly;"it belongs to a friend who tends it herself. I could not succeed asshe does."
"Is--is she a mermaid?" asked Ruby, her eyes growing very round.
"No, my dear. Mermaids' flowers, if they have any, would scarcely belike these, I think."
"You speak as if there are no such things as mermaids; do you not thinkthere are?" said Mavis.
Old Adam shook his head.
"I have never seen one; but I would never take upon myself to say thereis nothing but what I've seen."
"Tell us about the friend who plants these in your garden," said Ruby,touching the forget-me-nots. "Could it have been she who put some onthe terrace at the castle for us?"
"Maybe," said the old man.
"Is she a lady, or--or a fairy, or what is she, if she's not a mermaid?"asked Ruby.
Before the old man could answer, Winfried's voice made her start insurprise.
"She's a princess," he said; and he smiled all over his face when he sawRuby's astonishment.
"Oh!" was all she said, but her manner became more respectful to bothAdam and his grandson from that moment.
Then the old man made a sign to Winfried, and the boy went out of theroom, coming back in a moment with a little plain wooden tray, on whichwere two glasses of rich tempting-looking milk and a basket of cakes,brown and crisp, of a kind the children had never seen before. He setthe tray down on a table which stood in the window, and Adam begged thechildren to help themselves.
They did so gladly. Never had cake and milk tasted so delicious. Rubyfelt rather small when she thought of her condescending offer of soupfrom the Castle kitchen.
"But then," she reflected, "of course I didn't know--how could I?--thata princess comes to see them. I daresay she sends them these deliciouscakes. I wish Bertha could make some like them."
"I never saw cakes like these before," said little Mavis. "They are_so_ good."
Old Adam seemed pleased.
"My boy isn't a bad cook," he said proudly, with a glance at Winfried.
"Did _you_ make them?" said Ruby, staring at Winfried. "I thoughtperhaps as a princess comes to see you that _she_ sent you them--theyare so very good."
Winfried could not help laughing: something in Ruby's speech seemed tohim so comical.
Then at the little girls' request he took them out again to examine someof the wonders of the grotto-garden. He fished out some lovely spraysof seaweed for them, and gave them also several of the prettiest shells;best of all, he gathered a sweet nosegay of the forget-me-nots, whichMavis said she would take home to cousin Hortensia. And then, as thesun by this time had travelled a long way downwards, they ran in to bidold Adam good-bye, and to thank him, before setting off homewards.
"How are we going?" asked Ruby. "You've sent away the boat."
"I could call it back again, but I think we had better go a shorterway," said Winfried. "You're not frightened of a little bit of thedark, are you? There's a nice short cut to the rock path through one ofthe arbours."
The little girls followed him, feeling very curious, and, perhaps, justa tiny scrap afraid. He led them into one of the grottoes, which, tothe
ir surprise, they found a good deal larger than they had expected,for it lengthened out at the back into a sort of cave. This cave wastoo dark for them to see its size, but Winfried plunged fearlessly intoits recesses.
"I must see that the way is clear," he said, as he left them; "waitwhere you are for a few minutes."
Ruby was not very pleased at being treated so unceremoniously.
"I don't call waiting here a quick way of getting home," she said, "andI hate the dark. I've a good mind to run