"For ever?" I inquired incredulously.

"Why not?" asked Shin Shira. "Fairies, you know, are immortal,
and my ancestor had fairy blood in his veins. Well, to make a long
story short, the spell, or whatever you choose to call it, which his
great-grandmother cast over him, didn't work in him, nor in his son, nor
even in his grandson; but several hundreds of years afterwards _I_ was
born, and then it suddenly took effect, and I have always been afflicted
with the exceedingly uncomfortable misfortune of having to appear or
disappear whenever the old lady likes, and in whatever place she
chooses.

"It's terribly awkward at times, for one minute I may be in China taking
tea with a Mandarin of the Blue Button, and have to disappear suddenly,
turning up a minute later in a first-class carriage on the Underground
Railway, greatly to the surprise and indignation of the passengers,
especially if it happens to be over-crowded without me, as it very
often is.

"Not but what it has its advantages too," he added thoughtfully, "and
this very power of being able to disappear suddenly has just got me out
of a most serious dilemma."

"Won't you tell me about it?" I inquired with considerable curiosity,
for I was beginning to be very interested in this singular little
person's account of himself.

"With pleasure," said Shin Shira; and settling himself more comfortably
in "the Toad," resting his elbows on the arms of the chair, and placing