So the little pages stepped forward from the foot of the throne, Lulu and Zuzu shook hands with Fofo and Fifi and soon they were very good friends. "Now," said the Fairy Queen, "we will have some cakes and tea, for I know you must be very weary from your long ride. And as you eat, I will have some shadows dance on the palace wall for your entertainment. I am sure the Enchanted Banjo will play for the shadows, because they can always dance very much better to the music of an Enchanted Banjo." So then the shadows began to dance on the wall for them, as the Banjo played: THE DANCE OF THE SHADOWS When the firelight flickers brightly Then we see upon the wall Shadows bowing all politely, Short and thin, and wide and tall; When the ruddy blaze is leaping And the red sparks glint and glance, Then with bows both low and sweeping Do the shadows start their dance. With a sway and a shift, and a leap and a lift, And a stride and a shuffle as they glide roundabout, And a stop and a swing, and a jump and a fling, And a twist and a twirling as they weave in and out. Thus they go in gay procession Down the wall and back again As though it were their profession To make mock of dancing men; They go swift, and swifter, wheeling In the figures made by chance, Darting from the floor to ceiling-- Thus the shadows have their dance. With a leap and a whirl and a twist and a twirl And a slide and a shuffle as they weave roundabout, And a swing and a hop, and a bow and a stop, And a shift and a nodding as they wind in and out. [Illustration] CHAPTER XXVI THE JOURNEY TO CANDY-TOWN After they had eaten all their fairy cakes and tea--which were not in the least like anything they had ever tasted before, but were much better than anything they had ever known--Zuzu and Lulu told the Fairy Queen about their journey and how they had happened to undertake it. They told her what the Black Fairy had said to them, and how they had taken off the wooden leg of the Dragon, and how they had started down the Golden Ladder. Neither Zuzu nor Lulu had heard of the King's losing his shadow, but in some way the Fairy Queen had heard of this, and now she told them of it, to their great surprise.