“She did not show herself loyal when she sought me in my Cave not long since,” observed the Wizard, stroking his dingy beard with a slow hand. “At first she did indeed pretend to desire your freedom; at first she wept and pleaded with me for your release, as though she were in earnest, but when she found that I gave no heed to her, she cast off all disguise, and showed plainly that she rejoiced in your imprisonment. She even went so far as to try to bargain with me to hold you here. She needed not to bargain, my good sister, for nothing could change my purpose toward yourself. I have determined that in this prison you shall find all of home or kingdom that will be yours for many a day.” “Naught that you can say would serve to convince me that Creeping Shadow is a traitor,” she answered. “Why should I trust your word in place of what I know of her? The day of my deliverance may be far off, the way of its accomplishment may be hard, but I shall be freed at last. For this my faithful servants work, as you shall find.” Still the Wizard sought to stir her, to break down her courage. “How unfortunate it is that you have no prince to aid in this good work,” he taunted. “Such a prince as Radiance, perhaps—he, whom you ran such risks to aid. But he has returned to the Land of Fire with his pale princess and will hardly trouble himself now to release you from the punishment that you are enduring because of him.” Proudly the Shadow Witch raised her head, and for the first time since her imprisonment there were tears in her beautiful eyes. “Whether or no he remembers me in the midst of his joy,” she answered, “Whether or no he will succor me in my need, I shall never be sorry that I helped him to deliver his Princess. He it was who first brought brightness into my dreary land. He it was, who, for the first time in my life, made me to know what it is to be noble. Happy am I, then, even here and now, that it was given me to serve him. Proud am I with a far different pride than any that I have known before.” The Wizard heard her in amaze. Had his sister taken leave of her senses? What had come over the mischief-loving Shadow Witch that she should speak in this fashion? “You behave strangely, sister,” he replied sharply. “Can it be that it was something more than the mere pleasure of outwitting and injuring me that led you to aid this impudent stranger, enemy to your people and to all who dwell in this land?”