t the children with
his yellow eyes, which burned as brightly as lamps in the gloom of the
forest, 'the first thing to be done is, of course, to get the Golden
Ivy-seed and the Diamond Waterdrop. After that the rest is easy.'

'And where are the Golden Ivy-seed and the Diamond Waterdrop to be
found?' inquired the two children hopefully.

'The Golden Ivy-seed must be sought in the centre of the earth, where
the King of the Gnomes reigns,' replied the cat; 'and the Diamond
Waterdrop is to be asked for in the kingdom of the Air Spirits, above
the clouds.'

'But how are we to get up to the Air Spirits and down to the Gnomes?'
asked the children disconsolately.

'We will see about that,' replied the cat. 'But before starting we
must build the enchanted bonfire.'

'What good will that do?' demanded the children.

'We could never get on without it,' replied Tom. 'For since Hector has
been put into the one-hundred-and-first corner the sun has caught fire
and the moon has frozen up, and this fire will be all we can have to
warm and light us on our journey.'

'But what if it should go out while we are away?' said the children.

'In order to prevent that one of you must stay by it, while the other
goes with me on the journey,' said Tom. 'Harold, you shall be the one
to stay. Be sure and not let the fire go out whatever happens; for if
it does, Rumpty-Dudget will take the blackened logs and rub Hector's
face all over with them, and then we should never be able to get him
out of the tower at all. Now do you two run about and pick up all the
dried sticks you can find, and pile them together in a heap, while I
get the touchwood ready.'

In a few minutes--so diligently did Hilda and Harold work--a heap of
faggots had been gathered together as high as the top of Hilda's head.
Meanwhile Tom the Cat had not been idle. He had drawn on the ground
with the tip of his tail a large circle, in the centre of which was
the heap of faggots. It had now become quite dark, and the children
could not have seen their way about had it not been for Tom's yellow
eyes, which burned as brightly as two carriage-lamps.

'Come inside the circle, children,' said he at length. 'I am now going
to light the touchwood.'

In they came accordingly, and sat down again on the moss cushion at
the foot of the tall pine-tree. The cat then put the touchwood on the
ground and crouched down in front of it, with his nose resting against
it; and he stared and sta