THE MARKET GARDENER AND THE PALACE OF TRUTH. 29

knew at once, to a woman. Clover felt instantly that this woman
was going to be kind to Cowslip and himself.

“Who speaks?” said the voice again; “‘ who are you who sit by
the wayside? What do you want?”

“My name is Clover,” replied the boy, “and I am on my way to
the Blue Mountains. I have a little sister here, called Cowslip; she
is very ill. Will no one help her?”

“J will,” said the lady. “My name is Charity, and I often come
out at night and walk along this road, for the purpose of helping
those people, whether they are children, men, or women, who are going
to the country beyond the Blue Mountains.”

“Oh, how glad Iam!” said poor Clover. As he said these words
the lady came up to him, and he saw that she carried in her hand
_ alittle lantern. She opened the door of the lantern now, and let the
full light fall on Cowslip’s face.

“Ah,” she said, “the child is poisoned. Did you both stop at the
Market Gardener’s cottage ?”

“Yes,” said Clover.

“ Have not you got a map of the road?”

“ Yes,” said Clover.

“The Market Gardener’s cottage was not put into the map.”

Clover felt himself turning crimson.

“T know now that it was not,” he said, “but the little girl who
wore forget-me-nots, and who called herself Bluebell, pointed it out
tome. It was marked very faintly with a blue cross.”

“Yes, yes—I know her tricks. She made that cross appear. If
you look in your map now, you will not see any cross near the Market
Gardener's cottage. But even though the girl did make a cross appear,
that ought not to have deceived you; for you know that the King’s
Inns are always marked with red. She would have loved to make
a red cross appear, but that was beyond her power.”

“T am very sorry; I know I have behaved very badly,” said
Clover.

“We will talk about that presently,” said Charity. ‘Now, the
thing is to get this child up to the palace, where I and my sisters live,