"No; he only guards the entrance to the defile."
Finding that none of the keys he first held would open the lock the lad had drawn out another handful; but these were no better than the others. One after another he tried all that he had, but not any would unlock the door. Having tried the last of all, the boy threw it down and sank upon the floor in despair.
"It is no good," he cried. "It is just as I feared. And yet I've been collecting those keys for the last seven months."
"I don't know. I didn't mind the desert or the dragon, but this was what I was afraid of all along."
"Mistress," said the gander, "Where is the key that the lady Fatima gave you? If what she said was true, it should unlock the door."
With eager fingers she took the key from her pocket and pressed it into the lad's hand. "Try this," she said.
Very hopelessly the boy arose and put the key to the lock. His face changed as he found it seemed to go in it easily. He turned the key, the lock slipped back, the door opened, and Ellen, following close at his heels, entered at last the House of the Queerbodies.
Ellen and her companions were standing in a circular golden hall. All around the hall were arched doorways, and overhead, supported by golden pillars, was a blue dome studded with jewels that shone like stars. There were no windows to be seen, but all the hall was filled with a clear and pleasant light that seemed to come from the dome.
As Ellen looked wonderingly about, she heard a tapping sound behind her, and turning saw a tall man oddly dressed in green and yellow, and holding in his hand an ivory rod tipped with gold. It was this rod that she had heard as it tapped on the floor.
The man stood looking at her and her friends in silence for a few moments.
Then he said, "Now how did you all get in here I should like to know; I have not opened the door to any one this morning."
"I had a key," answered Ellen, "and it fitted the door, so this lad unlocked it. We didn't know there was any one here to open it for us."
"Yes, I am the keeper of the gate, but I don't open for every one that knocks. But how did you find your way to the door, in the first place?"
"I came on this gander; it's Mother Goose's gander, you know."