Raphael scarcely remembered when the sun rose pale in the east. The eagle set his wings and coasted down through the air. In a few moments it was quite bright and Raphael blinked with the intensity of light. He realized with a start that they were home again. Below the porch on which they lit was the apple orchard, and to the west lay the barn. The two children crawled through the window into the nursery. Cassandra was still very sleepy and stumbled over to her bed which lay white and inviting with the covers turned back. Raphael tucked her in, kissed her, and then turned to thank Empyrean, their friend. But Chief of All the Eagles in the Sky had gone. Raphael, bewildered, rubbed his eyes. There was Aunt Mary. She would be waiting anxiously. He turned and rushed down the corridor to tell her that he was back and that he had brought Cassandra with him. ‘Aunt Mary! Aunt Mary!’ He burst into her room. ‘I’ve brought Cassie home.’ He felt very proud and excited. ‘What!’ said Aunt Mary sharply, rising to the surface of the bedclothes like an angry seal. ‘I’ve brought Cassie back,’ shouted Raphael. ‘I’ve defeated the Sorcerer. I’ve destroyed his whole city.’ Was he not wearing the white pajamas the Sorcerer had forced upon him? ‘Raphael,’ said his Aunt, ‘you are talking absolute nonsense. Go right back to bed. Don’t you realize it’s only six o’clock?’ [Illustration] TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Superscripted text is preceded by a caret character: 3^{RD} Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.