He asked to see the King immediately, and Pluto, who had heard his
voice from the top of the stairs, called out to him to come up at
once, for he was always glad to listen to Mercury's cheery talk.

And while they are laughing together we must find out what Proserpina
had been doing since we last heard about her.

You will remember that Proserpina had said she would not taste food so
long as she was kept a prisoner in King Pluto's palace.

It was now six months since she had been carried off from her home,
and not a mouthful had she eaten, not even when the cook had made all
kinds of sweet things and had ordered all the dainties which children
usually like best.

Proserpina was naturally a bright, merry little girl, and all this
time she was not so unhappy as you may have thought.

In the big palace were a thousand rooms, and each was full of
wonderful and beautiful things. It is true there was never any
sunshine in these rooms, and Proserpina used to fancy that the shadowy
light which came from the jeweled lamps was alive: it seemed to float
before her as she walked between the golden pillars, and to close
softly behind her in the echo of her footsteps.

And Proserpina knew that all the glitter of these precious stones was
not worth a single sunbeam, nor could the rubies and emeralds which
she played with ever be as dear to her as the daisies and buttercups
she had gathered among the soft green grass.