How Mignon Saved the Queen
gave a shrill whistle to call back the other four horsemen, who had galloped beyond. So they all came clattering back, and with many exclamations leaped from their horses to assist Raoul in freeing the Queen from her bonds.
And then she told them the story of the robbers, at which they growled and hissed and stamped with rage, and were for setting out immediately to capture and punish Jean and Jacques, and to get back Mignon’s jewels. But this the Queen forbade. “No,” she said, “I am safe now, and so is my doll,—though her gems are gone. But I do not care for that. Take us home, Raoul. I am so tired. Let the wicked robbers go until another time.”
“Until another time, then,” said the five, reluctantly putting up their swords, and sighing with regret for the chase which they longed to begin. But they were so glad to have their little Queen safe and sound that they soon forgot everything else in the joy of carrying her back with them to the palace.
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