Let the people, O Queen! say, and bless thee, Her bounty drops soft as the dew, And spotless in honor confess thee, As lilies are spotless in hue. On the roof stands yon white stork awaking, His feathers flush rosy the while, For, lo! from the blushing east breaking, The sun sheds the bloom of his smile. Let them boast of thy word, "It is certain; We doubt it no more," let them say, "Than to-morrow that night's dusky curtain Shall roll back its folds for the day." "Master," whispered the old hound, who was lying at Jack's feet. "Well," said Jack. "They didn't invent that song themselves," said the hound; "the old apple-woman taught it to them,--the woman whom they love because she can make them cry." Jack was rather ashamed of the hound's rudeness in saying this; but the Queen took no notice. And now they had reached a little landing-place, which ran out a few feet into the river, and was strewed thickly with cowslips and violets. [Illustration: THE QUEEN. "Here the boat stopped, and the Queen rose and got out."--PAGE 114.] Here the boat stopped, and the Queen rose and got out. Jack watched her. A whole crowd of one-foot-one fairies came down a garden to meet her, and he saw them conduct her to a beautiful tent, with golden poles and a silken covering; but nobody took the slightest notice of him, or of little Mopsa, or of the hound, and after a long silence the hound said, "Well, master, don't you feel hungry? Why don't you go with the others and have some breakfast?" "The Queen didn't invite me," said Jack. "But do you feel as if you couldn't go?" asked the hound. "Of course not," answered Jack; "but perhaps I may not." "Oh, yes, master," replied the hound; "whatever you _can_ do in Fairyland you _may_ do." "Are you sure of that?" asked Jack. "Quite sure, master," said the hound; "and I am hungry too." "Well," said Jack, "I will go there and take Mopsa. She shall ride on my shoulder; you may follow." So he walked up that beautiful garden till he came to the great tent. A banquet was going on inside. All the one-foot-one fairies sat down the sides of the table, and at the top sat the Queen on a larger chair; and there were two empty chairs, one on each side of her. Jack blushed; but the hound whispering again, "Master, whatever you can do you may do," he came slowly up the table towards the Queen, who was saying, as he drew near, "Where is our trusty and well-beloved, the apple-woman?" And she took no notice of Jack; so, though he could not help feeling rather red and ashamed, he went and sat in the chair beside her with Mopsa still on his shoulder. Mopsa laughed for joy when she saw the feast. The Queen said, "O Jack, I am so glad to see you!" and some of the one-foot-one fairies cried out, "What a delightful little creature that is! She can laugh! Perhaps she can also cry!"