plied she. "It would not do for a queen to
play at dolls."

"Have you been a queen very long?" Peter inquired.

"For several years," said Mary.

"But you and I were playing together only yesterday," said poor Peter,
in puzzled tones.

But Mary had turned her back to him, and was pulling a bell at the back
of her throne.

Although the music was still going on, the clear tone of the bell which
the Queen had rung was heard above every other sound.

The music and the dancing stopped at once.

"Come, Peter, give me your arm," said Mary. "We're going into the
supper-room."

They stepped down into the hall, where all the Parsnip-men had now
ranged themselves in two long rows, down the centre of which the Queen
and her companion now passed, and then the Parsnip-men closed in and
formed a long procession behind them.

In this way they came to the other end of the hall. The large
folding-doors swung open, and Peter fancied he was looking into a large
garden. But it was only another hall in which tall foreign-looking trees
were planted, whilst many-tinted flowers of gorgeous colours and strange
shapes hung from the walls, and hither and thither among them flitted
curious birds of many hues. As in the first hall, crystal lustres with
wax tapers descended from the roof, and in the middle of the room, to
which they now advanced, was a long table covered with a white
table-cloth, and laid out with gold and silver plate of all sorts. There
were golden vases with handles, golden tankards, golden dessert-dishes
filled with splendid fruits; silver plates and goblets and
drinking-cups, and beside them stood crystal flasks. Hundreds of chairs
were placed round the table, and in every place was a little silver
knife and a plate.

Peter could not gaze long enough. He wanted to stop every moment, but
Mary only laughed, and dragged him on.

[Illustration]

About the middle of the long table there was a dais raised above the
level on which the other chairs and table stood. It was covered by a
canopy of yellow silk, and under this was a table more richly laid out
than the big one, and two seats of pure gold. To this Mary led Peter,
and then said emphatically--"These are _our_ seats."

Up they climbed, and then Mary dropped Peter's arm and sat down on one
of the seats, and he seated himself beside her on the other.

From his present elevation Peter was well able to observe the
Parsnip-men as they passed by in procession, and too