"Toddy, you are of the earth, earthy, and an unimaginative beast. Romance doesn't appeal to you. I shall search for the Pixy's House!" "In what direction?" jeered Macandrew. "Up the stream. This Princess is apparently imprisoned in the house and must have flung the cylinder therefrom into the water. Ergo, the Pixy's House must be near the water. I shall go to Exeter and bring back a canoe. Then I shall explore and find----" "A mare's nest! Don't be an ass. It's all bosh." "It's romance! romance! romance! But not a word, Toddy, either to any one here, or to any one in London. Promise!" "Oh, I promise. But----" "Silence! you profane the Mysteries of Fairyland. I shall explore and learn the end of this adventure. And you, Tod Macandrew?" "I'll see what's the best lunatic asylum for you to occupy," said Tod caustically. CHAPTER III. FAIRYLAND. Notwithstanding his fantastical babble to Macandrew, Gerald was a shrewd young man. He prosecuted his search for the unknown sender of the message, less to find a wife than to see the end of the adventure. At the enjoyable age of thirty, he was not particularly keen on getting married, although his friends persistently advised him to do so. But, as Haskins pertinently observed, it was absurd to marry merely for marrying's sake. "When I meet THE woman," said Gerald wisely, "I shall ask her to be my wife. Otherwise----" And a shrug would complete the unfinished sentence. Tod was quite ready to leave the conclusion of the fishing adventure to his friend. Being in love with a particular girl, he thought of her only, and had no wish to search for another girl, even though she were an illiterate princess, who fluted like a nightingale. What with earning his living, and fighting Lady Euphemia, and wooing Charity Bird, and tricking Mrs. Pelham Odin, who was strongly opposed to that wooing, Macandrew's hands were quite full. Within two days he betook himself to London, keen upon seeing _The Moon Fay_ ballet, in which Charity was dancing. But before his departure he unwittingly did Gerald a service by learning something about the Pixy's House, and that same something was less romantic than unpleasant. According to Tod the thing came about by accident; but Haskins, who believed that everything was designed, even to the winking of an eye, insisted that Macandrew had been purposely lured into conversation with the laborer, who had mentioned Leegarth, and the Pixy's House. At a nine o'clock breakfast, on the very day of his departure, Tod mentioned to his friend that he had been taking a morning walk. "I had a beastly wakeful night last night," grumbled Tod, while Geary brought in a dish of trout and some hot rolls, "it made me sick tumbling and tossing, so I dressed and strolled out at six o'clock." "Why didn't you waken me?" asked Haskins. "I would have come also."