ey never
understand. They love music and they hate geometry, but they
understand one just as well as the other."

The King came up to Kathleen and said: "It is time for you to come and
be looking after the child again."

Kathleen went with him and he led her back into the room where the
Queen was. "Where is the box of ointment?" the King said to the Queen.

"I have it here under my pillow," the Queen answered; "come here and
get it, Kathleen."

The Queen took something from under her pillow and held it so that
Kathleen had to come close to her to get it. "Did you eat anything?"
the Queen asked, as Kathleen bent over her.

Kathleen did not quite know whether she ought to answer or not, but
the Queen looked at her so kindly that she thought that there could be
no harm, and she said: "Only what Terence gave me."

"That was right," said the Queen, and then she went on, speaking
louder, so that the King could hear: "Take this box of ointment. In
the morning, as soon as the baby is awake, take him out of the cradle
and wash him, and then just touch his eyes with this ointment; but be
careful that you do not touch your own eyes with it."

Kathleen took the box, which seemed to be of solid gold, and looked at
it. What was in it looked like a soft, green salve. She slipped it
into the pocket of her gown. "How shall I know when it is morning?"
she asked. It seemed to her that here under the hill there would not
be much difference between night and day.

"You'll know it's morning when the child wakes up," the Queen said;
"or when you wake up yourself, for that matter. You can go to bed now.
There's your bed, next to the cradle."

The King left them, and Kathleen, who was really very tired, lay down
on another gold couch, almost like the Queen's, that had been placed
near the cradle, and in a minute she was asleep.

It seemed scarcely another minute before she was awake again. She
remembered that the Queen had said that when she awoke it would be
morning, and she looked to see if the baby was awake too. He was, and
she took him out of the cradle. Then she saw a large gold basin full
of water. She washed the baby in it, and he stared at her all the
time, with big, owlish eyes. Then she took the box of ointment out of
her pocket. She touched it with her finger and then touched each of
the baby's eyes with it. Instantly his eyes looked brighter and
deeper, and instead of staring at her stupidly, as they had done
before, t