off, moaned with mortal anguish;
Mytyl howled:

"Where is Sugar?... I want to go home!"

Meanwhile, Tyltyl, pale and resolute, was trying to open the door,
while Night's grave voice, rising above the din, proclaimed the first
danger.

"It's the Ghosts!"

"Oh, dear!" thought Tyltyl. "I have never seen a ghost: it must be
awful!"

The faithful Tylo, by his side, was panting with all his might, for
dogs hate anything uncanny.

At last, the key grated in the lock. Silence reigned as dense and
heavy as the darkness. No one dared draw a breath. Then the door
opened; and, in a moment, the gloom was filled with white figures
running in every direction. Some lengthened out right up to the sky;
others twined themselves round the pillars; others wriggled ever so
fast along the ground. They were something like men, but it was
impossible to distinguish their features; the eye could not catch
them. The moment you looked at them, they turned into a white mist.
Tyltyl did his best to chase them; for Mrs. Night kept to the plan
contrived by the Cat and pretended to be frightened. She had been the
Ghosts' friend for hundreds and hundreds of years and had only to say
a word to drive them in again; but she was careful to do nothing of
the sort and, flapping her wings like mad, she called upon all her
gods and screamed:

"Drive them away! Drive them away! Help! Help!"

But the poor Ghosts, who hardly ever come out now that Man no longer
believes in them, were much too happy at taking a breath of air; and,
had it not been that they were afraid of Tylo, who tried to bite their
legs, they would never have been put back indoors.

"Oof!" gasped the Dog, when the door was shut at last. "I have strong
teeth, goodness knows; but chaps like those I never saw before! When
you bite them, you'd think their legs were made of cotton!"

By this time, Tyltyl was making for the second door and asking:

"What's behind this one?"

Night made a gesture as though to put him off. Did the obstinate
little fellow really want to see everything?

"Must I be careful when I open it?" asked Tyltyl.

"No," said Night, "it is not worth while. It's the Sicknesses. They
are very quiet, the poor little things! Man, for some time, has been
waging such war upon them!... Open and see for yourself...."

Tyltyl threw the door wide open and stood speechless with
astonishment: there was nothing to be seen....

He was just about to close the door again, when h