her
Calladon nor Callia appeared to find this odour disagreeable, but
quite the contrary; and they went onwards with evident gratification.

'The more I think about it, Callia,' said Calladon, 'the surer I am
that this must be the real Abra. Could anything be more delightful
than this thick air, that you can see as well as breathe; and this
floor, all soft and sticky--not hard and dry like the other; and these
beautiful walls, covered with that curious green stuff; and then the
toadstools and the weeds? What a lucky thing that we thought of
coming!'

'And how much wiser we are than we were before!' added Callia. 'When I
was in that dreadful white place, I used to feel as if I knew almost
nothing, and as if the great lamp were the only light in the world.
But now that we have a light of our own, it is easy to see that we
know almost everything, and by the time we have explored this place,
there will be nothing we do not know.'

'This mud must be very valuable,' said Calladon, after a while; 'for I
never saw anything like it before. Don't you think it would be a good
thing if we were to smear ourselves all over with it, and then hang
some of those lovely weeds round our necks?'

Callia was delighted with this idea, and the two forthwith sat
themselves down in the softest mud-heap they could find, and began to
cover themselves with mud very diligently. After this had gone on for
some time, however, Callia suddenly gave a shriek.

'What is the matter?' asked Calladon.

'The snake! the snake!' cried Callia. 'It is winding itself all round
me!'

'And round me too!' screamed Calladon. 'Oh, what shall we do?'

In fact, the mud with which they had covered themselves had become
alive, and was coiling itself tightly about them in the form of
serpents. There were already scores of them, and more seemed to be
coming to life every moment. They tried to run away, but the serpents
twined about their limbs and tripped them up. There seemed to be no
escape; and now, to make matters worse, Calladon's lamp flickered and
went out.

'We shall die!' moaned the children. 'Oh, will no one help us!'

Then a sound was heard like an earthquake, and the walls that
separated them from Abra were rent asunder, and a terrible white light
streamed forth, and fell upon the unhappy children. In that light they
looked at one another, and saw that they were deformed and hideous
beyond the power of words to describe. The next instant the walls