'I could do more than that.' 'What ?' he asked.
'I could unravel the carpet,' said Lucy, with deep solemnity.
'But it's me that's got to do it,' Philip urged.
'Every citizen is bound to help, if called in,' Lucy reminded him.

'And I suppose a princess _is_ a citizen.' 'Perhaps I can do it by myself,' said Philip.
'Try,' said Lucy, and sat down on the steps, her fairy skirts spreading out round her like a white double hollyhock.
He tried.

He went back and looked at the great coarse cables of the carpet.

He could see no end to the cables, no beginning to his task.

And Lucy just went on sitting there like a white hollyhock.