'Perhaps,' said poor James sadly, 'the person you dreamed about wasn't stupid, and I am.' 'Are you _really_?' cried the Princess. 'I _am_ so glad!' 'That's rather unkind, isn't it?' said he. 'No; because if _that's_ all that makes you different from the man I dreamed about I can soon make _that_ all right.' And with that she put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him. And at her kiss his stupidness passed away like a cloud, and he became as clever as any one need be; and besides knowing all the ordinary lessons he would have learned if he had stayed at home in his palace, he knew who he was, and where he was, and why, and he knew all the geography of his father's kingdom, and the exports and imports and the condition of politics. And he knew also that the Princess loved him. So he caught her in his arms and kissed her, and they were very happy, and told each other over and over again what a beautiful world it was, and how wonderful it was that they should have found each other, seeing that the world is not only beautiful but rather large. 'That first one was a magic kiss, you know,' said she. 'My fairy godmother gave it to me, and I've been keeping it all these years for you. You must get away from here, and come to the palace. Oh, you'll manage it--you're clever now.' 'Yes,' he said, 'I _am_ clever now. I can undo the lock for you. Go, my dear, go before he comes back.' So the Princess went. And only just in time; for as she went out of one door Taykin came in at the other. He was furious to find her gone; and I should not like to write down the things he said to his apprentice when he found that James had been so stupid as to open the door for her. They were not polite things at all. He tried to follow her. But the Princess had warned the guards, and he could not get out. 'Oh,' he cried, 'if only my old magic would work outside this tower. I'd soon be even with her.' And then in a strange, confused, yet quite sure way, he felt that the spell that held him, the White Witch's spell, was dissolved. 'To the palace!' he cried; and rushing to the cauldron that hung over the fire he leaped into it, leaped out in the form of a red lion, and disappeared. Without a moment's hesitation the Prince, who was his apprentice, followed him, calling out the same words and leaping into the same cauldron, while the poor nurse screamed and wrung her hands. As he touched the liquor in the cauldron he felt that he was not quite himself. He was, in fact, a green dragon. He felt himself vanish--a most uncomfortable sensation--and reappeared, with a suddenness that took his breath away, in his own form and at the back door of the palace. The time had been short, but already the Magician had succeeded in obtaining an engagement as palace cook. How he did it without references I don't know. Perhaps he made the references by magic as he had made the eggs, and the apples, and the handkerchief.