lamentation
themselves.

A few steps more brought them in sight of the melancholy songster.
Seated in a corner of the cave, with his massive head on his fore-paws,
the picture of dejection, was the most enormous creature they had ever
seen or dreamed about. He was rather like an elephant, but much more
immense and without a trunk: a huge, ungainly, slate-coloured animal.

He did not hear them, but sat rocking to and fro in his corner, moaning
lugubriously.

'Toby,' said Tilsa, who now was not in the least alarmed, 'can you
cough?'

'I'll try,' said Toby, and he coughed.

The Flamp took down one paw from its desert of face and peered out. Then
he sprang to his feet and rubbed his heavy, watery, blue eyes in blank
astonishment. Tilsa and Tobene did not move. They stood still, gazing
into the Flamp's great, mournful face, now wrinkled up with surprise and
excitement.

Then the Flamp spoke--'What?' he said, 'kids? Real kids? Flesh-and-blood
kids? Human, rollicking, kind-hearted kids?'

'We are real children,' Tilsa replied at length, 'if that is what you
mean, and, oh, we are so glad to have found you! The hedgehog's compass
told us to come this way, or we should never have reached you at all.'

'Then you set out intending to find me?' said the Flamp. 'Well, that is
a good one. How is it you're not scared, like all the rest of them?'

'I don't know,' said Tilsa. 'I can't think. But we weren't, were we,
Toby?'

'No,' said Tobene.

'And what made you come?' the Flamp asked.

'We--we--' Tilsa faltered. 'Well, sir, we thought you wanted sympathy,
like Alison did. And so we came to--to try and give you some.'

'And so I do,' the Flamp gasped out. 'And so I do,' and he lifted up his
right paw, and brushed it across his eyes. 'You see, it's precious
little of it I get. It's very hard, I can assure you, my dears, to be
the last of one's race. Why, the land was full of Flamps once, and a
fellow need never be in want of company, but now--now they're all dead,
all but me, and I'm not long for this life.' The Flamp sighed and
dropped a tear, which splashed heavily.

Tilsa felt very sorry. 'Poor--' she began to say, but stopped abruptly.
She was intending to say 'Poor Flamp,' but that now seemed to her too
familiar; so she altered it to 'Poor gentleman!' although when the word
was out, it seemed equally unsuitable.

Tobene said nothing aloud, but nudged Tilsa and whispered, 'Aren't you
going to try throwing your arm