Tom did not want to be soothed and only controlled his grief, so that he could make her last hour easier. He was sitting by her looking into her dying eyes, when, suddenly he saw that she brightened, looking over him into the darkness and he heard what she was whispering, »The Queen, our Queen is coming. I hear her horses neighing. She is nodding to me, nodding, Little Tom. We will meet.« Then she became quiet and her face, deathly pale. Tom knelt silently by her bed, hearing nothing, knowing nothing. He did not know how long he was there, until the Hamster came and said, as if with an indifferent voice, »Come, now it is time. We will lay her away so that she can sleep easily«. Tom obeyed blindly, covering her with her cloak, then raised her in his arms and walked behind the Hamster through a long corridor until they came to a small niche which the Hamster had dug and lined with daisies for Chrysomela. When they had laid her there, Tom said good bye to her, the Hamster closed in the niche, and they went back to the lonely dining-room. They sat there for a long time without speaking, until the Hamster suddenly said, »My dear Tom, I am as fond of you as a brother. Stay here with me. I have food enough. It will be better for us both. We will think of your poor Chrysomela until the Spring comes, and then I can drive you to the Ladybird kingdom.« Tom thought of the Ladybirds, looked at the empty bed and cried bitterly. He never wanted to go back to the Ladybirds without Chrysomela, and only wished to get to the Godmother so that he could hide himself with her for the rest of his life. He asked the Hamster to take him there at once, for, here, his heart was breaking with grief. The Hamster said that, outside, there was a terrible snowstorm and they would have to wait until the next day. Perhaps, over night, Tom would reconsider. So they talked together without thinking of sleep. They thought of Chrysomela's death and Tom remembered how, in her delirium, she seemed to see a Queen. The Hamster then became thoughtful and said, »I do not know, but I think that such a Queen exists. She rules over all living creatures on the earth. All do not know her, only the chosen ones. There are rumors about her among those who live on the earth, in the air and in the water. All honor and acknowledge her. Whoever knows anything of her, does not talk about it.« Tom begged him to tell him everything that he knew. He was trembling with excitement, believing, that, perhaps, after all, Chrysomela was not dreaming, but was arranging for their meeting. »I do not know a thing,« replied the Hamster. »I am only an underground creature and it is not given to us to know the secret; but I believe that she exists, for the larks are singing of her, when I am running through the fields, the bees are buzzing about her in the grass and the flowers are dreaming of her, when in the evening they are breathing out their fragrance.«