the little white dog ran down the street, and the parlormaid watched it from the window.
the housekeeper called sharply to the parlormaid, and the parlormaid returned with a sigh to her duties.
the parlormaid had laid the silverware out, but had interrupted her polishing of it to look at the little white dog running down the street.
her majesty is in a particularly foul mood today, the housekeeper informed the parlormaid, as foul as i have ever seen her. so i strongly suggest you give these forks and spoons a thorough good cleaning and brushup.
is she now? the parlormaid replied sulkily. well, boo on her, says i. she is not really a queen, you know.
isn’t she now, miss? and what leads you to that conclusion, if i may be so bold as to ask?
because everything is an illusion, replied the parlormaid. everything. that i am a parlormaid polishing the silverware, that you are the housekeeper supervising me as i polish the silverware, that madam is a queen, all these things are so only because they are believed to be so.
really now?
really.
just then the queen entered the parlor.
well then, the housekeeper said to the parlormaid, why don’t you repeat to madam what you just told me.
gladly. and without pausing in her polishing of a soup spoon, the parlormaid repeated, word for word, the observatioms she had previously vouchsafed to the housekeeper.
what do you think of all that, madam? the housekeeper said to the queen with a smirk.
the queen paused. i think she is quite correct, she finally said. everything we do is a charade, and a damned dull one at that.
do you think so? the housekeeper asked.
yes. there is absolutely no reason i should be a queen, she a parlormaid, and you a housekeeper.
what should we be then? enquired the housekeeper.
i think that after we finish tea, the queen replied, we should all three assume new lives and new identities, and take to the high road in search of adventure. what do you say?
that is a splendid idea, the parlormaid agreed. i could not think of a better one myself. what say you? she asked the housekeeper
after a moment’s hesitation, the housekeeper said, count me in.
i suggest, said the parlormaid, that we let polly, the milkmaid, in on the excursion. i am sure she would enjoy it.
the more the merrier, the queen agreed.
and so at dusk, the intrepid quartet, the queen, the parlormaid, the housekeeper , and polly the milkmaid set out.
soon they came to a truck stop, with several big rigs parked beside it.
four rowdy fellows were seated at an outside table, enjoying the evening breeze, a few cool ones, and cheeseburgers and fries.
whitey smith was hauling a load of apples to the big city, along with his helper, known only as doggie. they were joined at the table by gus brown, who was starting a cross country trip to pittsburgh with a consignment of red white and blue paper napkins, and rick richards , a local layabout with no permanent address.
look here , the parlormaid addressed whitey smith, we are looking for transport to the big city. do you think you can oblige any or all of us?
i can use two of you, whitey answered, if you are willing to ride in the back of the truck and help unload my apples when we get there.
it was agreed that the parlormaid and the queen would ride with whitey and doggie, and when whitey and doggie had finished their beers they set out.
gus brown agreed to give the housekeeper a lift as far as sparks nevada, and they too departed, leaving polly the milkmaid at the table with rick richards.
i am not sure i have anything for you, babe, rick advised polly, but if you want to wait for me, i am going to see a man about a certain proposition which might be beneficial to both of us.
polly agreed, and purchased a cup of decaf and a raspberry danish and sat down to wait for rick. she decided she would give him an hour, and if he did not show up, she would start hitchhiking in the general direction of the big city, where she might rejoin the queen and the parlormaid.
as she was waiting, a little white dog approached the table and looked at her expectantly.
there were some scraps left over from the cheeseburgers and polly tossed them to the dog.
it devoured them and ran off into the night.
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