But after a little while the Moon King did not even look at the dainties or listen to the music. He looked at pretty Silvergirl and he listened to nothing but her voice. “I saw your face in a dream last night,” he said, “and I want you for my Moon Queen. Will you marry me?” “But my brother has not come back,” she answered, “and I haven’t yet found the silver door for my father and mother.” “I’ll give you silver doors for all the cottages in the forest,” cried the Moon King, “and I’ll find your brother if he is aboveground.” “But the Moon Lady’s servants have looked everywhere aboveground,” said Silvergirl sadly, “and they could not find him.” “Then I’ll look underground,” declared the Moon King. “I know all the gnomes and dwarfs and pixies and underworld fairies and crickets and field mice; and there isn’t one of them that wouldn’t be gladder than glad to do me a favor. Will you marry me when I have found Silverboy?” Even the little bird at the window could not hear her answer; but it seemed to please the Moon King, for he cried joyfully to his sister, “Take good care of my bride, and I’ll be here with Silverboy in the twinkling of a star.” And before she could say good-bye, his white horses with their golden harness were tearing down the mountain as if they were trying to catch up with the swiftest river that ever flowed. Finding Silverboy was not quite so easy as the Moon King had expected, for no one but the Slippery Spider knew that he had become so tiny. The gnomes and the dwarfs and the pixies and the underworld fairies and all the rest looked in vain for a tall boy in search of a silver door. The crickets and the field mice looked, but Silverboy was nowhere to be found. Silvergirl grew paler and paler, and the Moon Lady began to feel anxious, not only lest some wild beast or some fierce bird of prey should have devoured Silverboy, but also lest Silvergirl should grieve herself to death for the loss of her brother. All the little folk of the forest and field, those that wore feathers or furs or hair or just plain skin, were talking about the lost Silverboy, and at last the news came to the Thoughtful Snail. No one had dreamed of his joining in the search because he was so slow and had to carry his house about with him; but the Thoughtful Snail went to his neighbor, the Friendly Glowworm, and said:-- “I’ve been thinking.” “Well?” said the Friendly Glowworm. “I’ve been thinking.” “Well?” “I’ve been thinking,” declared the Thoughtful Snail for the third time, and then he told what he thought. “The Moon King has been good to me,” he said slowly, “and I’ve been thinking that I should like to find the brother of his bride.” “Is that all?” exclaimed the Friendly Glowworm. “We’d every one of us like to find him.” “But I’ve been thinking,” said the Thoughtful Snail again, and then he stopped to think a little more. The Friendly Glowworm waited patiently, and at last the Thoughtful Snail continued:--