The enchanted castle

THE ENCHANTED CASTLE 130
And she would have done it too, but at that
moment the front door banged and they knew
that Eliza had gone forth in all the glory of her
best things to meet her " gentleman friend."
"It's no use"—Mabel was almost in teats:
" look here—will you leave me alone? Perhaps
you others looking distracts me. And I'll go
over every inch of the room by myself."
" Respecting the emotion of their guest, the
kindly charcoal-burners withdrew," said Gerald.
And they closed the door softly from the outside
on Mabel and her search.
They waited for her, of course — politeness
demanded it, and besides, they had to stay at
home to let Mademoiselle in ; though it was a
dazzling day, and Jimmy had just remembered
that Gerald's pockets were full of the money
earned at the fair, and that nothing had yet
been bought with that money, except a few
buns in which he had had no share. And of
course they waited impatiently.
It seemed about an hour, and was really quite
ten minutes, before they heard the bedroom
door open and Mabel's feet on the stairs.
" She hasn't found it," Gerald said.
" How do you know ?
" Jimmy asked.
" The way she walks," said Gerald. You can,
in fact, almost always tell whether the thing
has been found that people have gone to look
for by the sound of their feet as they return.
Mabel's feet said "No go" as plain as they
could speak. And her face confirmed the cheerless
news.