"Meddlesome spirit that you are," she said sternly, addressing her words to the crestfallen enchanter, "you can no longer trouble the Brownies. Your commission to do evil has expired."
"How so?" he demanded. "I made application for a renewal."
"Yes," she said, "but, through an error in the date, you were too late."
"Yes, by thirteen seconds," she announced triumphantly, "and Beelzebub refuses to renew the policy."
"Great Scott!" ejaculated Dragonfel, with much chagrin. "This comes of trying to run business without an almanac!"
"Henceforth you will be compelled to be good," said Euphrosyne.
"Yes," said Dragonfel, in a rather shamefaced manner. "It may come rather hard at first, but I suppose I will get used to it in time. As a matter of fact, I'm growing rather tired of being bad. There's nothing to it, after all. The only thing one gets from being bad is a lack of respect in the community."
"I see you're somewhat repentant," said Euphrosyne encouragingly. "It's a little late, of course, but still it's better late than never. You understand, don't you, that after this you're to let the Brownies alone?"
"I should say I will let them alone," coincided Dragonfel heartily. "The Brownies are too much for me. They have beaten me at every point. Even if I were disposed to do them further mischief I am placed in a rather delicate situation. I owe my life to the Brownies."
"There is one thing on which I insist," spoke up King Stanislaus. "You must do something for these poor mine-sprites."
"I will see that they are restored to their parents from whom they were stolen," asserted Dragonfel hastily. "Furthermore they shall all be given handsome dowries, with a beautiful solitaire diamond of a half-dozen karats more or less for each, so that when the right young man comes along the engagement-ring will be easy."
Here the mine-sprite who had expressed her preference for the Policeman gave him a coy glance, but he twirled his club, and looked the other way.
"It's too bad about your palace," said the Dude to Dragonfel.
"Oh, don't trouble yourself about that," said the enchanter cheerfully. "I never did like its style of architecture, anyhow.
I'll soon have it rebuilt, and give the Union scale for labor, with double pay for over-time. The palace was a rather tame affair anyway, I ran too much to the emerald, topaz, and turquoise in its composition. I'll make more use of the sapphire, the ruby and cornelian, in the makeup of the new structure; and those columns, I always felt a little weak over them, as they were only imitation chalcedony, the real thing goes in the next one, if I have to import it from Palestine." The glances the Brownies exchanged showed they felt that they had struck a master in his line.