It was a silly expectation."
"Not so extremely silly," whispered Proserpina. "You have really amused
me very much, sometimes."
"Thank you," said King Pluto, rather dryly. "But I can see, plainly
enough, that you think my palace a dusky prison, and me the iron-hearted
keeper of it. And an iron heart I should surely have, if I could detain
you here any longer, my poor child, when it is now six months since you
tasted food. I give you your liberty. Go with Quicksilver. Hasten home
to your dear mother."
Now, although you may not have supposed it, Proserpina found it
impossible to take leave of poor King Pluto without some regrets, and a
good deal of compunction for not telling him about the pomegranate. She
even shed a tear or two, thinking how lonely and cheerless the great
palace would seem to him, with all its ugly glare of artificial light,
after she herself--his one little ray of natural sunshine, whom he had
stolen, to be sure, but only because he valued her so much--after she
should have departed. I know not how many kind things she might have
said to the disconsolate king of the mines, had not Quicksilver hurried
her away.
"Come along quickly," whispered he in her ear, "or His Majesty may
change his royal mind. And take care, above all things, that you say
nothing of what was brought you on the golden salver."
In a very short time they had passed the great gateway (leaving the
three-headed Cerberus barking, and yelping, and growling, with threefold
din, behind them), and emerged upon the surface of the earth.
Pages:
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91