hence she had come. The nature of
little Ann habitually rejected fairies and all fantastic things, finding
them quite too much in the air, and devoid of sufficient reality and
'go'; and this refulgence, almost unearthly in its travelling glory,
passed over her small head and played strangely with the pillars in the
hall, without exciting in her any fancies or any sentiment. The
intention of discovering what was at the end of the picture gallery
absorbed the whole of her essentially practical and active mind.
Deciding on the left-hand flight of stairs, she entered that immensely
long, narrow, and--with blinds drawn--rather dark saloon. She walked
carefully, because the floor was very slippery here, and with a kind of
seriousness due partly to the darkness and partly to the pictures. They
were indeed, in this light, rather formidable, those old Caradocs black,
armoured creatures, some of them, who seemed to eye with a sort of
burning, grim, defensive greed the small white figure of their descendant
passing along between them. But little Ann, who knew they were only
pictures, maintained her course steadily, and every now and then, as she
passed one who seemed to her rather uglier than the others, wrinkled her
sudden little nose. At the end, as she had thought; appeared a door.
She opened it, and passed on to a landing. There was a stone staircase
in the corner, and there were two doors. It would be nice to go up the
staircase, but it would also be nice to open the doors. Going towards
the first door, with a little thrill, she turned the handle. It was one
of those rooms, necessary in houses, for which she had no great liking;
and closing this door rather loudly she opened the other one, finding
herself in a chamber not resembling the rooms downstairs, which were all
high and nicely gilded, but more like where she had lessons, low, and
filled with books and leather chairs. From the end of the room which she
could not see, she heard a sound as of someone kissing something, and
instinct had almost made her turn to go away when the word: "Hallo!"
suddenly opened her lips. And almost directly she saw that Granny and
Grandpapa were standing by the fireplace. Not knowing quite whether they
were glad to see her, she went forward and began at once:

"Is this where you sit, Grandpapa?"

"It is."

"It's nice, isn't it, Granny? Where does the stone staircase go to?"

"To the roof of the tower, Ann."

"Oh! I have to