greater name than this and uses it against you, your charm will
be of no use. Bind him first with the chains of honour and
upright dealing. And then ask his aid--oh, yes, you'd better all
go; you can put me to sand as you go upstairs. I must have a few
minutes' peace and quietness.'

So the four children hastily washed their hands and brushed their
hair--this was Anthea's idea--and went up to knock at the door of
the 'poor learned gentleman', and to 'bind him with the chains of
honour and upright dealing'.



CHAPTER 3

THE PAST

The learned gentleman had let his dinner get quite cold. It was
mutton chop, and as it lay on the plate it looked like a brown
island in the middle of a frozen pond, because the grease of the
gravy had become cold, and consequently white. It looked very
nasty, and it was the first thing the children saw when, after
knocking three times and receiving no reply, one of them ventured
to turn the handle and softly to open the door. The chop was on
the end of a long table that ran down one side of the room. The
table had images on it and queer-shaped stones, and books. And
there were glass cases fixed against the wall behind, with little
strange things in them. The cases were rather like the ones you
see in jewellers' shops.