"He wished to be rich, so of course he is," said Gerald; "he'll have money for tickets and everything."
"And when the spell breaks--it's sure to break, isn't it?--he'll find himself somewhere awful--perhaps in a really good hotel--and not know how he got there."
"I wonder how long the Ugly-Wuglies lasted," said Mabel.
"Yes," Gerald answered, "that reminds me. You two _must_ collect the coats and things. Hide them, anywhere you like, and we'll carry them home to-morrow--if there _is_ any to-morrow," he added darkly.
"Oh, don't!" said Kathleen, once more breathing heavily on the verge of tears: "you wouldn't think everything _could_ be so awful, and the sun shining like it does."
"Look here," said Gerald, "of course I must stick to Jimmy. You two must go home to Mademoiselle and tell her Jimmy and I have gone off in the train with a gentleman--say he looked like an uncle. He does--some kinds of uncle. There'll be a beastly row afterwards, but it's got to be done."
"It all seems thick with lies," said Kathleen; "you don't seem to be able to get a word of truth in edgewise hardly."
"Don't you worry," said her brother; "they aren't lies--they're as true as anything else in this magic rot we've got mixed up in. It's like telling lies in a dream; you can't help it."
"Well, all I know is I wish it would stop."
"Lot of use your wishing _that_ is," said Gerald, exasperated. "So long. I've _got_ to go, and you've _got_ to stay. If it's any comfort to you, I don't believe _any_ of it's real: it can't be; it's too thick. Tell Mademoiselle Jimmy and I will be back to tea. If we don't happen to be I can't help it. I can't help _anything_, except perhaps Jimmy." He started to run, for the girls had lagged, and the Ugly-Wugly and That (late Jimmy) had quickened their pace.
"We've _got_ to find these clothes," said Mabel, "simply got to. I used to want to be a heroine. It's different when it really comes to being, isn't it?"
"Yes, very," said Kathleen. "Where shall we hide the clothes when we've got them? Not--not that passage?"
"Never!" said Mabel firmly: "we'll hide them inside the great stone dinosaurus. He's hollow."
"He comes alive--in his stone," said Kathleen.
"Not in the sunshine he doesn't," Mabel told her confidently, "and not without the ring."