His words, and his manner of going, frightened the Princess. She again
began to look about her for some way of escape. Suddenly she saw upon
the floor the grey cap that the dwarf had carried in his hand. He must
have dropped it when he fell, and he had been too angry to notice
that he was leaving it behind. She picked it up and stood turning it
thoughtfully in her hands. Then, without considering why she did so,
she placed it upon her head. She was standing directly in front of a
mirror at the time. To her amazement, the moment she had the cap on
her head every reflection of her vanished from every mirror in the
room. The Princess could hardly believe her eyes. She might have been
thin air for any impression she made upon the glass. She took the
cap from her head, and immediately her reflections appeared again in
the mirrors. She replaced it, and they vanished from sight. Then the
Princess knew that she held the Cap of Invisibility—the cap that causes
anyone who wears it to become invisible.
As she stood there with the cap still upon her head, the mirror door
was burst open and the dwarf rushed into the room. His dress was
disordered and his eyes glared wildly.
He looked hastily about him, but he could see neither the cap nor the
Princess. At once he knew that she had found the cap and had put it on.
“Ah, ha!” he cried to the invisible Princess. “So you have found it!
You have put it on, and hope so to escape me. But I know you are still
here, even though I cannot see you. I will find you, never fear.”
Spreading his arms wide, he rushed about the room, hoping to touch the
Princess and seize her, but as he could not see her she was easily
able to escape him. Now and then he stopped and listened, hoping the
Princess would make some sound that would tell him where she was,
but at these times Beautiful too stood still. She did not move, she
scarcely breathed, lest he should hear her.
Suddenly the Princess saw something that gave her a hope of escape. The
dwarf had neglected to fasten the swinging mirror behind him when he
entered. She flew to it and pushed it open. Beyond lay a long corridor.
Down this the Princess fled, not knowing where it would lead her.
But the dwarf saw the mirror move, and guessed she had passed out
through it. With a cry of rage he sprang after her.
At the end of the corridor was a barred door. Beautiful had scarcely
time to unfasten this door and run through before the dwarf reached it.
But once outside the door she found herself in a wide and open garden.
Here she could pause and take breath. The dwarf had no means of knowing
in which direction she had gone. He could not hear her footsteps upon
the soft grass, and the rustling of the wind among the leaves prevented
his hearing the sound of her dress as she moved.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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