fer winter-green,
peppermint, rose, or accidulated drops? Red or white? Or perhaps
Your Majesty will let me recommend these bull's eyes," said the
leader, as a collection of sweets in a hat were suddenly produced
from the barrel labelled "Gunpowder" and handed to the children.

"Listen," he continued, in a silence broken only by the gentle
sucking of bull's eyes. "Many years ago the old Red Rovers of these
parts locked up all their treasures in a secret cavern in this
mountain. They used spells and magic to keep it from being entered
or found by anybody, for there was a certain mark upon it made by a
peculiar rock that stuck out of it, which signified what there was
below. Long afterwards, other Red Rovers who had heard of it, came
here and spent days and days trying to discover it; digging holes
and blasting tunnels like this, but of no use! Sometimes they
thought they discovered the magic marks in the peculiar rock that
stuck out of it, but when they dug there they found no treasure. And
why? Because there was a magic spell upon it. And what was that
magic spell? Why, this! It could only be discovered by a person who
could not possibly know that he or she had discovered it, who never
could or would be able to enjoy it, who could never see it, never
feel it, never, in fact know anything at all about it! It wasn't a
dead man, it wasn't an animal, it wasn't a baby!"

"Why," said Polly, jumping up and clapping her hands, "it was a
Dolly."

"Your Majesty's head is level! Your Majesty has guessed it!" said
the leader, gravely. "It was Your Majesty's own dolly, Lady Mary,
who broke the spell! When Your Majesty came down the slide, the doll
fell from your gracious hand when your foot slipped. Your Majesty
recovered Lady Mary, but did not observe that her hair had caught in
a peculiar rock, called the 'Outcrop,' and remained behind! When,
later on, while sitting with your attendants at the mouth of the
tunnel, Your Majesty discovered that Lady Mary's hair was gone; I
overheard Your Majesty, and despatched the trusty Step-and-Fetch-It
to seek it at the mountain side. He did so, and found it clinging to
the rock, and beneath it--the entrance to the Secret Cave!"

Patsey and Hickory, who, failing to understand a word of this
explanation, had given themselves up to the unconstrained enjoyment
of the sweets, began now to apprehend that some change was
impending, and prepared for the worst by hastily swallowing what
they had i