She looked over her shoulder at the others, said, “I’ll be back in just a minute!” and came with me, straightening her skirt. “What sort of magic spell? You’re not going to turn me into a frog or anything!”

Ever since that practical exam, I had tried to avoid mention of things being turned into frogs, but she wouldn’t know that. “No,” I said, “I think I’ve invented a new kind of telephone, and I want to test it.”

In my chambers, I stationed her in the study, at one end of the string, and went into the bedroom. “You listen,” I said, “and see if you can hear me.” Then, with my mouth close to the other end of the string, I said in my deepest voice, “All powers of earth and air must obey the spells of wizardry.”

To my surprise, she burst into peals of laughter. “You’re the funniest person I’ve ever met!” she said when she had caught her breath. “Are you sure you’re really a wizard?”

“Did it work?” I said with irritation. “Could you hear me?”

“Of course I could hear you. You were only standing ten feet away! All powers of earth and air!” Still laughing, she went back out to rejoin the game.

I looked at my piece of string in disgust. It was still glowing. I snapped my fingers and said the words to break the spell, but nothing happened. I seemed to have a piece of string permanently able to convey words over the same distance one could hear them anyway.

“Except that it may not even do that,” I thought. “All I know for sure is that it’s pink now.” Besides, the more I thought about it the more strings seemed like an impractical idea. One couldn’t run a string two hundred miles to the City. It was with relief that I heard the gong for dinner.

My good humor was restored by another excellent meal. At the end, King Haimeric said, “Come with me. I want to show you my rose garden.”

He walked on his nephew’s arm out of the great hall, through the courtyard, and out through the great gates of the castle. Since I had arrived in the courtyard by air cart, I had not before been through the gates. The portcullis was up and looked as though it had not been lowered for years. Swans were swimming peacefully in the moat.