xviii. And thus the Seasons fell thicker than the cushions that are in Soft Furnishings (3rd Floor).

xix. Until a Stranger came from afar, crying out in a loud voice, and he cried, woe, woe.

From The Book of Nome, First Floor v.XII-XIX They tripped over one another, they walked with their heads turned upward and their mouths open they gawked. Angalo had stopped by a hole in the wall, and waved them through hurriedly.

'In here,' he said.

Granny Morkie sniffed.

'That's a rat hole,' she said. 'You're not asking me to go down a rat hole?' She turned to Torrit 'He's asking me to go down a rat hole! I'm not going down a rat hole!' 'Why not?' said Angalo..

'It's a rat hole!' 'That's just what it looks like,' said Angalo. 'It' a disguised entrance, that's all.' 'Your rat just went through it,' said Granny Morkie triumphantly. 'I've got eyes. It's a rat hole.' Angalo gave Grimma a pleading look and ducked through the hole. She poked her head through after him.

'I don't think it's a rat hole, Granny,' she said, in a slightly muffled voice.

'And why is that, pray?' 'Because there's stairs inside. Oh, and dear little lights.' It was a long climb. They had to stop and wail several times for the old ones to catch up, and Torrit had to be helped most of the way. At the top, the stairs went through a more dignified sort of door into- Even when he was young, Masklin had never seen more than forty nomes all together at once There were more that that here. And there was food. It didn't look like anything he recognized, but it had to be food. After all, people were eating it A space about twice as high as he was stretched away into the distance. Food was stacked in neat piles with aisles between them, and these were thronged with nomes. No one paid much attention to the little group as it shuffled obediently behind Angalo,, who had got some of his old swagger back.