Whereas this nome looked like a rainbow. He wore brightly coloured clothes of a material so fine it looked like chip wrapping, a belt studded with bits of glass, proper leather boots, and a hat with a feather in it. As he talked he slapped his leg idly with a leather strap which, it turned out, was the lead for the rat.
'Well?' he snapped. 'Answer me!' 'I came off the lorry,' said Masklin shortly, eyeing the rat. It stopped scratching its ears, gave him a look, and went and hid behind its master.
'What were you doing on there? Answer me!' Masklin pulled himself up. 'We were travelling,' he said. The nome glared at him. 'What's travelling?' he snapped.
'Moving along,' said Masklin. 'You know? Coming from one place and going to another place.' This seemed to have a strange effect on the stranger. If it didn't actually make him polite, at least it took the edge off his tone.
'Are you trying to tell me you came from Outside?' he said.
'That's right.' 'But that's impossible!' 'Is it?' Masklin looked worried.
'There's nothing Outside!' 'Is there? Sorry,' said Masklin. 'But we seem to have come in from it, anyway. Is this a problem? 'You mean really Outside?' said the nome sidling closer.
'I suppose I do. We never really thought about it What's this p1-' 'What's it like?' 'What?' 'Outside! What's it like?' Masklin looked blank. Well,' he said. 'It's sort of big-' 'Yes?' 'And, er, there's a lot of it-' 'Yes? Yes?' 'With, you know, things in it-' 'Is it true the ceiling is so high you can't see it?' said the nome, apparently beside himself with excitement.