alk,' said the Cat; 'did you ask it?'

'No,' said the Princess.

'Well, then!' said the Cat 'And as for wings, I needn't wear them if
you'd rather I didn't.'

The Cat took off her wings, rolled them neatly up, like your father
rolls his umbrella, tied them round with a piece of string, and put them
in the left-hand corner drawer in the bureau.

'That's better,' said Everilda.

'And as for size,' said the Cat, 'if I stayed ordinary cat-size I
shouldn't be any use to you. And I've come to be cook, companion,
housemaid, nurse, professor, and everything else, so----'

'Oh, don't,' said the Princess--'_don't_ get any bigger.'

For while she was speaking the Cat had been growing steadily, and she
was now about the size of a large leopard.

'Certainly not,' said the Cat obligingly; 'I'll stop at once.'

'I suppose,' said the Princess timidly, 'that you're magic?'

'Of course,' said the Cat; 'everything is, here. Don't you be afraid of
me, now! Come along, my pet, time for bed.'

Everilda umped, for the voice was the voice of her nurse; but it was
also the voice of the Cat.

'Oh!' cried the Princess, throwing her arms round the cat's large furry
neck, 'I'm not afraid of _any_ thing when you speak like that.'

So, after all, she had someone to tuck her up in bed. The Cat did it
with large, soft, furry, clever paws, and in two minutes Everilda was
fast asleep.

And now began the long, lonely, but all the same quite happy time which
the Princess and the Cat spent together on the Forlorn Island.

Everilda had lessons with the Cat--and then it was the Professor's voice
that the Cat spoke with; and the two did the neat little housework of
the tower together--and then the Cat's voice was like the voices of the
palace housemaids. And they did the cooking and then the Cat's voice was
the cook's voice. And they played games together--and then the voice of
the Cat was like the voices of all sorts of merry children. It was
impossible to be dull with a companion who changed so often.

'But who are you _really_?' the Princess used to ask.

And the Cat always answered:

'I give it up! Ask another!' as if the Princess had been playing at
riddles.

'How is it our garden is always so tidy and full of nice fruit and
vegetables?' the Princess asked once, when they had been on the island
about a year.

'Oh,' said the Cat, 'didn't you know? The moles you used to let out of
the traps do the digging, and the birds you used to