Dorothy looked; she could not say anything. The robe was woven of silk,
with gold and silver threads, and embroidered with jewels.
"If you will give this to Dame Betsy for her eldest daughter's bridal
dress, she will let you go," said the princess. She took a pair of
silver shears out of the trunk and cut off a bit of the robe under a
flounce. "Show that to Dame Betsy," said the princess, "and tell her you
will give her the dress made of the same material, and she will let you
go. Now you had better run home. I shall stay here and sleep under the
hedge. I do not like Dame Betsy's house. Come here in the morning, when
you have told her about the dress."
The princess sat down on the trunk, and it immediately shrunk into the
little wallet; then she curled herself up on the grass under the flowery
hedge. Dorothy ran home and crept noiselessly up to her bed in the
garret.
In the morning, when the daughters came down to breakfast, they missed
the cat. "Where is the cat?" they inquired indignantly of their mother.
They suspected her of driving the cat away with the broom. They had
quite a wrangle over it. Finally, the daughters all put on finery and
went out shopping for some needles and pins; then Dorothy showed Dame
Betsy the scrap of the splendid robe, and said to her what the princess
had directed she should say.
Dame Betsy was very much surprised and disturbed.
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