ttom of all the stairs, and that will take you to
the hall where the great door is.'

'Oh! I don't doubt I can find my way--without you, princess, or your
old grannie's thread either,' said Curdie quite rudely.

'Oh, Curdie! Curdie!'

'I wish I had gone home at once. I'm very much obliged to you, Irene,
for getting me out of that hole, but I wish you hadn't made a fool of
me afterwards.'

He said this as he opened the door, which he left open, and, without
another word, went down the stair. Irene listened with dismay to his
departing footsteps. Then turning again to the lady:

'What does it all mean, grandmother?' she sobbed, and burst into fresh
tears.

'It means, my love, that I did not mean to show myself. Curdie is not
yet able to believe some things. Seeing is not believing--it is only
seeing. You remember I told you that if Lootie were to see me, she
would rub her eyes, forget the half she saw, and call the other half
nonsense.'

'Yes; but I should have thought Curdie--'

'You are right. Curdie is much farther on than Lootie, and you will
see what will come of it. But in the meantime you must be content, I
say, to be misunderstood for a while. We are all very anxious to be
understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much
more necessary.'

'What is that, grandmother?'

'To understand other people.'

'Yes, grandmother. I must be fair--for if I'm not fair to other
people, I'm not worth being understood myself. I see. So as Curdie
can't help it, I will not be vexed with him, but just wait.'

'There's my own dear child,' said her grandmother, and pressed her
close to her bosom.

'Why weren't you in your workroom when we came up, grandmother?' asked
Irene, after a few moments' silence.

'If I had been there, Curdie would have seen me well enough. But why
should I be there rather than in this beautiful room?'

'I thought you would be spinning.'

'I've nobody to spin for just at present. I never spin without knowing
for whom I am spinning.'

'That reminds me--there is one thing that puzzles me,' said the
princess: 'how are you to get the thread out of the mountain again?
Surely you won't have to make another for me? That would be such a
trouble!'

The lady set her down and rose and went to the fire. Putting in her
hand, she drew it out again and held up the shining ball between her
finger and thumb.

'I've got it now, you see,' she said, coming back to the