CHAPTER V

ON THE CARPET
The Princess was just Lucy.
‘ It’s too bad,’ said Philip. ‘ I do think.’ Then he stopped short and just looked cross.
‘ The Princess and the Champion will now have their teas,’ said Mr. Noah. ‘ Right about face, everybody, please, and quick march.’
Philip and Lucy found themselves marching side by side through the night made yellow with continuous fireworks.
You must picture them marching across a great plain of grass where many coloured flowers grew. You see a good many of Philip’s build- ings had been made on the drawing-room carpet at home, which was green with pink and blue and yellow and white flowers. And this carpet had turned into grass and growing flowers, following that strange law which caused things to change into other things,
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THE MAGIC CITY
CHAP.
like themselves, but larger and really belong- ing to a living world.
No one spoke. Philip said nothing because he was in a bad temper. And if you are in a bad temper, nothing is a good thing to say. To circumvent a dragon and then kill it, and to have such an adventure end in tea with Lucy, was too much. And he had other reasons for silence too. And Lucy was silent because she had so much to say that she didn’t know where to begin ; and besides, she could feel how cross Philip was. The crowd did not talk because it was not etiquette to talk when taking