Page:The land of enchantment (1907, Cassell).djvu/45

 have told them in a moment what they wanted to know, but, unfortunately, they had dropped it in their excitement. Down on their hands and knees they went, and, having now so much experience, they were not long in finding the ball of silk. Hastening down the right passage, which seemed much longer than before, they discovered that the lantern had been moved and the entrance door was fast shut!

The maker of ghosts was in a terrible state of alarm, because, you see, his nerves had suffered so much. The ground-gnome too was agitated, and in vain repeated “Nepo, nepo, nepo!” for the door still remained closed. Fortunately, the maker of shadows had his wits about him and cried, “Open, open, open!” Whereupon the door in the wall did open, they went out quickly, and got home just before sunrise.

The whole of the day they devoted to sleep, but in the evening once more started for the dwarf’s cavern. They arrived at the place where they had first fastened the silk, but found that the ball had been carried off and where before there had been only four passages there were now twenty. The dwarfs had indeed been busy.

So the three wisely gave up further search as likely to be useless, and, returning to the mouth of the shaft, went to the bank where they had placed their experience and took a fair sample of it to the market. All the dealers to whom they showed it said it was of excellent quality, but, to be thoroughly satisfied, they had it analysed, when it was found to consist of two parts of the choicest experience mixed with one part of the best common-sense, and this filled them with joy.

A small portion they set aside as a present for the kindly spook, and one third then fell to the ground-gnome as his share. To what was left they added their own store of common-sense, which now made an equal proportion of experience and common-sense. Well might the maker of ghosts and the maker of shadows congratulate each other that, after all their troubles, they were at last on the high road to fortune!

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