Page 152 - Adventures in shadow-land
P. 152
that had happened at the hut, bade her change
her dress.
Now, what Eva most wanted was to see Aster
restored to his original shape. But, without a
word, she obeyed the woman, and put on her
own white dress again. It was so nice to get rid
of that horrid, mud-colored thing she had been
wearing, to shake down her long curls, instead of
having them tied up in a little plain cap, and to
have the ugly brown dye come off her face and
hands. Eva was more than glad,—she enjoyed
the change.
“ Now we will help Aster,” said the Toad-
Woman. But the question was, how to open the
cage and to get the bird out. For the cage had
no door, and the bird flew round and round it,
screaming and pecking at Eva’s hands, till the
child was nearly ready to cry. “ The Frog has
still power, through her enchantments, over him,”
the woman said. “ Give me the cage,and let me
see what I can do. ”
So she took up the cage and said some words
which Eva did not understand, and then drew a
circle in the air over it with her hand; and then,
