there, you
and your dragons? ONLY a dragon indeed! And what do YOU know about it?"

"'Cos it IS, and 'cos I DO know," replied the Boy, quietly. "Look here,
father, you know we've each of us got our line. YOU know about sheep,
and weather, and things; _I_ know about dragons. I always said, you
know, that that cave up there was a dragon-cave. I always said it must
have belonged to a dragon some time, and ought to belong to a dragon
now, if rules count for anything. Well, now you tell me it HAS got a
dragon, and so THAT'S all right. I'm not half as much surprised as when
you told me it HADN'T got a dragon. Rules always come right if you wait
quietly. Now, please, just leave this all to me. And I'll stroll up
to-morrow morning--no, in the morning I can't, I've got a whole heap of
things to do--well, perhaps in the evening, if I'm quite free, I'll go
up and have a talk to him, and you'll find it'll be all right. Only,
please, don't you go worrying round there without me. You don't
understand 'em a bit, and they're very sensitive, you know!"

"He's quite right, father," said the sensible mother. "As he says,
dragons is his line and not ours. He's wonderful knowing about
book-beasts, as every one allows. And to tell the truth, I'm not half
happy in my own mind, thinking of that poor animal lying alone up there,
without a bit o' hot supper or anyone to change the news with; and maybe
we'll be able to do something for him; and if he ain't quite respectable
our Boy'll find it out quick enough. He's got a pleasant sort o' way
with him that makes everybody tell him everything."

Next day, after he'd had his tea, the Boy strolled up the chalky track
that led to the summit of the Downs; and there, sure enough, he found
the dragon, stretched lazily on the sward in front of his cave. The view
from that point was a magnificent one. To the right and left, the bare
and billowy leagues of Downs; in front, the vale, with its clustered
homesteads, its threads of white roads running through orchards and
well-tilled acreage, and, far away, a hint of grey old cities on the
horizon. A cool breeze played over the surface of the grass and the
silver shoulder of a large moon was showing above distant junipers. No
wonder the dragon seemed in a peaceful and contented mood; indeed,
as the Boy approached he could hear the beast purring with a happy
regularity. "Well, we live and learn!" he said to himself. "None of my
books ever told me that dragons