ut," said Anthea, also taking courage.

"Oh, well--if that's your wish," the voice said, and the sand stirred
and spun and scattered, and something brown and furry and fat came
rolling out into the hole, and the sand fell off it, and it sat there
yawning and rubbing the ends of its eyes with its hands.

"I believe I must have dropped asleep," it said, stretching itself.

The children stood round the hole in a ring, looking at the creature
they had found. It was worth looking at. Its eyes were on long horns
like a snail's eyes, and it could move them in and out like telescopes;
it had ears like a bat's ears, and its tubby body was shaped like a
spider's and covered with thick soft fur; its legs and arms were furry
too, and it had hands and feet like a monkey's.

"What on earth is it?" Jane said. "Shall we take it home?"

The thing turned its long eyes to look at her, and said--

"Does she always talk nonsense, or is it only the rubbish on her head
that makes her silly?"

It looked scornfully at Jane's hat as it spoke.

"She doesn't mean to be silly," Anthea said gently; "we none of us do,
whatever you may think! Don't be frightened; we don't want to hurt you,
you know."

"Hurt _me_!" it said. "_Me_ frightened? Upon my word! Why, you talk as
if I were nobody in particular." All its fur stood out like a cat's when
it is going to fight.

"Well," said Anthea, still kindly, "perhaps if we knew who you are in
particular we could think of something to say that wouldn't make you
angry. Everything we've said so far seems to have done so. Who are you?
And don't get angry! Because really we don't know."

"You don't know?" it said. "Well, I knew the world had
changed--but--well, really--Do you mean to tell me seriously you don't
know a Psammead when you see one?"

"A Sammyadd? That's Greek to me."

"So it is to everyone," said the creature sharply. "Well, in plain
English, then, a _Sand-fairy_. Don't you know a Sand-fairy when you see
one?"

It looked so grieved and hurt that Jane hastened to say, "Of course I
see you are, _now_. It's quite plain now one comes to look at you."

"You came to look at me, several sentences ago," it said crossly,
beginning to curl up again in the sand.

"Oh--don't go away again! Do talk some more," Robert cried. "I didn't
know you were a Sand-fairy, but I knew directly I saw you that you were
much the wonderfullest thing I'd ever seen."

The Sand-fairy seemed a shade less disagreeab