the
hand of the priestess like a live thing that seeks to be free. Then you
will dig, and the golden treasure will be revealed. H. O., if you make
that clatter with your boots they'll come and tell us not to. Now come
on all of you.'

So she went upstairs and down and into every room. We followed her
on tiptoe, and Alice sang as she went. What she sang is not out of a
book--Noel made it up while she was dressing up for the priestess.

Ashen rod cold
That here I hold,
Teach me where to find the gold.

When we came to where Eliza was, she said, 'Get along with you'; but
Dora said it was only a game, and we wouldn't touch anything, and our
boots were quite clean, and Eliza might as well let us. So she did.

It was all right for the priestess, but it was a little dull for the
rest of us, because she wouldn't let us sing, too; so we said we'd had
enough of it, and if she couldn't find the gold we'd leave off and play
something else. The priestess said, 'All right, wait a minute,' and went
on singing. Then we all followed her back into the nursery, where the
carpet was up and the boards smelt of soft soap. Then she said, 'It
moves, it moves! Once more the choral hymn!' So we sang 'Heroes' again,
and in the middle the umbrella dropped from her hands.

'The magic rod has spoken,' said Alice; 'dig here, and that with courage
and despatch.' We didn't quite see how to dig, but we all began to
scratch on the floor with our hands, but the priestess said, 'Don't
be so silly! It's the place where they come to do the gas. The board's
loose. Dig an you value your lives, for ere sundown the dragon who
guards this spoil will return in his fiery fury and make you his
unresisting prey.'

So we dug--that is, we got the loose board up. And Alice threw up her
arms and cried--

'See the rich treasure--the gold in thick layers, with silver and
diamonds stuck in it!'

'Like currants in cake,' said H. O.

'It's a lovely treasure,' said Dicky yawning. 'Let's come back and carry
it away another day.'

But Alice was kneeling by the hole.

'Let me feast my eyes on the golden splendour,' she said, 'hidden these
long centuries from the human eye. Behold how the magic rod has led
us to treasures more--Oswald, don't push so!--more bright than ever
monarch--I say, there _is_ something down there, really. I saw it
shine!'

We thought she was kidding, but when she began to try to get into the
hole, which was much too small, we s