-and down out of sight.

It seemed such a splendid bite, that, being fond of fishing, I was about
to strike, the absurdity of the idea of fishing with a man for a float
never striking me for a moment; but, just as I was going to pull up, the
man was crawling over the floor of the grinders' shop, and the water was
not there, though the wheel seemed to be going round and uttering a
heavy groan at every turn for want of grease.

There he was again, creeping and writhing up the stairs, and higher and
higher along the floor among the lathes; then he was in the office, and
over the bed where Uncle Bob lay making a snoring noise like the great
water-wheel as it turned. What a curiously-long, thin, writhing man he
seemed to be as he crawled and wriggled all over the floor and lathes
and polishing-wheels. Down, too, into the smiths' shops, and over the
half-extinct fires without burning himself, and all the time the wheel
went round with its snoring noise, and the man--who was really a big
eel--was ringing a loud bell, and--

I jumped up wide-awake, upsetting Piter, and throwing his head out of my
lap, when, instead of springing up, he rolled heavily half-way down the
stairs as if he were dead.

"Why, I've been to sleep," I said angrily to myself, "and dreaming all
sorts of absurd nonsense! That comes of thinking about fishing for
eels."

I was cold and stiff, and there was a bell ringing in the distance at
some works, where the men began an hour sooner than ours. But I took no
notice of that, for I was thinking about Piter, and wondering how he
could lie so still.

"Is he dead?" I thought; and I went down and felt him.

He did not move; but it was evident that he was not dead, for he snored
heavily, and felt warm enough; but he was too fast asleep to be roused,
even when I took hold of his collar and shook him.

I was puzzled, and wondered whether he could have had anything to make
him so sleepy.

But if he had had anything to make him sleepy I had not, and yet I must
have been soundly asleep for two or three hours.

I remembered, though, that when I last went round the yard Piter had
been sniffing about at something, and perhaps he might have eaten what
had not agreed with him then.

"Poor old boy! He'll wake up presently," I said to myself as I lifted
him up; and heavy enough he seemed as I carried him down to his kennel,
just inside the door, where he lay motionless, snoring heavily still.

"Lucky thing