Page:Baron Trump's marvellous underground journey.pdf/133

Rh pavements, and then the truth dawned upon me, that Long Thumbs and his companions were simply halting now and then to read the names of the streets with the balls of their feet, in order to know if they were taking the right road.

Ay, more than this, dear friends, the first time Bulger and I passed through one of the open squares of the City of Silver, you may imagine my satisfaction upon the discovery that the silver pavements were literally covered with the writings of the Soodopsy authors in raised characters.

Now, in Don Fum's wonderful book he had, in his masterly manner, given me the key to the language of the Formifolk, so that with very slight effort I was able to make the additional discovery that some of the streets were given up to the writers of history, and some to story writers, while others were filled with the learned works of philosophers, and others still contained many thousands of lines from the best poets which the nation had produced.

And I had very little difficulty in discovering which were the favorite poems of the Soodopsies, for, as you may readily suppose, these were polished like a silver mirror by the shuffling of the many thankful feet over their sweet and soulful lines.

I noticed that the writings of the philosophers in this, as in my own world, found few readers, for the raised letters were, in many cases, tarnished and black from lack of soles trampling over them in search of wisdom.

Somewhat later, when I had become acquainted with Velvet as full Soles, the daughter of Long Thumbs, a gracious little being of inward light as she was blind to the outer world, and she invited me to "come for a read," I had a hard task of it in persuading her that I could not remove what she called my ridiculous "foot boxes" and join her in enjoying some of her favorite poems. It was to me a delicious pastime to accompany this happy little maiden when she "went for a read," to walk beside her and watch the ever-varying expression of her beautiful face as the soles of her tiny feet pressed the