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There the king lay, alone in the midst of the frozen lake, with the moon staring at him. But at length he heard from somewhere a voice that he knew.

“Will you take another cup of tea, dear?” said Mrs. Rinkelmann.

And Ralph, coming slowly to himself, found that he was lying in his own bed.

“Yes, I will,” he answered; “and rather a large piece of toast, if you please; for I have been a long journey since I saw you last.”

“He has not come to himself quite,” said Mrs. Rinkelmann, between her and herself.

“You would be rather surprised,” continued Ralph, “if I told you where I had been.”

“I dare say I should,” responded his wife.

“Then I will tell you,” rejoined Ralph.

But at that moment, a great Shadow bounced out of the fire with a single huge leap, and covered the whole room. Then it settled in one corner, and Ralph saw it shaking its fist at him from the end of a preposterous arm. So he took the hint, and held his peace. And it was as well for him. For I happen to know something about the Shadows too; and I know that if he had told his wife all about it just then, they would not have sent for him the following evening.

But as the king, after finishing his tea and toast, lay and looked about him, the Shadows dancing in his room seemed to him odder and more inexplicable than ever. The whole chamber was full of mystery. So it generally was, but now it was more mysterious than ever. After all that he had seen in the Shadow-church, his own room and its Shadows were yet more wonderful and unintelligible than those.

This made it the more likely that he had seen a true vision; for instead of making common things look commonplace, as a false vision would have done, it had made common things disclose the wonderful that was in them.

“The same applies to all arts as well,” thought Ralph Rinkelmann.

The next afternoon, as the twilight was growing dusky, the king lay wondering whether or not the Shadows would fetch him again. He wanted very much to go, for he had enjoyed the journey exceedingly, and he longed, besides, to hear some of the Shadows tell their stories. But the darkness grew deeper and deeper, and the shadows did not come. The cause was, that Mrs. Rinkelmann sat by the fire in the gloaming; and they could not carry off the king while she was there. Some of them tried to frighten her away by playing the oddest pranks on the walls, and floor, and ceiling; but altogether without effect; the queen only smiled, for she had a good conscience. Suddenly, however, a dreadful scream was heard from the nursery, and Mrs. Rinkelmann rushed upstairs to see what was the matter. No sooner had she gone than the two warders of the chimney-corners stepped out into the middle of the room, and said, in a low voice,–

“Is your majesty ready?”

“Have you no hearts?” said the king; “or are they as black as your faces? Did you not hear the child scream? I must know what is the matter with her before I go.”

“Your majesty may keep his mind easy on that point,” replied the warders. “We had tried everything we could think of to get rid of her majesty the queen, but without effect. So a young madcap Shadow, half against the will of the older ones of us, slipped upstairs into the nursery; and has, no doubt, succeeded in appalling the baby, for he is very lithe and long-legged.–Now, your majesty.”

“I will have no such tricks played in my nursery,” said the king, rather angrily. “You might put the child beside itself.”

“Then there would be twins, your majesty. And we rather like twins.”

“None of your miserable jesting! You might put the child out of her wits.”