lpful in telling me about bygone days; but they only went back
a thousand years or so. No, I am certain that the oldest history in the
world is to be had from the shellfish--and from them only. You see most
of the other animals that were alive in those very ancient times have
now become extinct."

"Have you learned any shellfish language yet?" I asked.

"No. I've only just begun. I wanted this particular kind of a pipe-fish
because he is half a shellfish and half an ordinary fish. I went all the
way to the Eastern Mediterranean after him. But I'm very much afraid he
isn't going to be a great deal of help to me. To tell you the truth, I'm
rather disappointed in his appearance. He doesn't LOOK very intelligent,
does he?"

"No, he doesn't," I agreed.

"Ah," said the Doctor. "The sausages are done to a turn. Come
along--hold your plate near and let me give you some."

Then we sat down at the kitchen-table and started a hearty meal.

It was a wonderful kitchen, that. I had many meals there afterwards and
I found it a better place to eat in than the grandest dining-room in the
world. It was so cozy and home-like and warm. It was so handy for the
food too. You took it right off the fire, hot, and put it on the table
and ate it. And you could watch your toast toasting at the fender and
see it didn't burn while you drank your soup. And if you had forgotten
to put the salt on the table, you didn't have to get up and go into
another room to fetch it; you just reached round and took the big
wooden box off the dresser behind you. Then the fireplace--the biggest
fireplace you ever saw--was like a room in itself. You could get right
inside it even when the logs were burning and sit on the wide seats
either side and roast chestnuts after the meal was over--or listen to
the kettle singing, or tell stories, or look at picture-books by the
light of the fire. It was a marvelous kitchen. It was like the Doctor,
comfortable, sensible, friendly and solid.

While we were gobbling away, the door suddenly opened and in marched the
duck, Dab-Dab, and the dog, Jip, dragging sheets and pillow-cases behind
them over the clean tiled floor. The Doctor, seeing how surprised I was,
explained:

"They're just going to air the bedding for me in front of the fire.
Dab-Dab is a perfect treasure of a housekeeper; she never forgets
anything. I had a sister once who used to keep house for me (poor, dear
Sarah! I wonder how she's getting on--I haven't s