h was nearest them.

"Come on up!" he called.

So Trot and Cap'n Bill began to ascend the steep slope and it did not
take them long to reach the place where the Ork awaited them.

Their first view of the mountain top pleased them very much. It was a
level space of wider extent than they had guessed and upon it grew
grass of a brilliant green color. In the very center stood a house
built of stone and very neatly constructed. No one was in sight, but
smoke was coming from the chimney, so with one accord all three began
walking toward the house.

"I wonder," said Trot, "in what country we are, and if it's very far
from my home in California."

"Can't say as to that, partner," answered Cap'n Bill, "but I'm mighty
certain we've come a long way since we struck that whirlpool."

"Yes," she agreed, with a sigh, "it must be miles and miles!"

"Distance means nothing," said the Ork. "I have flown pretty much all
over the world, trying to find my home, and it is astonishing how many
little countries there are, hidden away in the cracks and corners of
this big globe of Earth. If one travels, he may find some new country
at every turn, and a good many of them have never yet been put upon the
maps."

"P'raps this is one of them," suggested Trot.

They reached the house after a brisk walk and Cap'n Bill knocked upon
the door. It was at once opened by a rugged looking man who had "bumps
all over him," as Trot afterward declared. There were bumps on his
head, bumps on his body and bumps on his arms and legs and hands. Even
his fingers had bumps on the ends of them. For dress he wore an old
gray suit of fantastic design, which fitted him very badly because of
the bumps it covered but could not conceal.

But the Bumpy Man's eyes were kind and twinkling in expression and as
soon as he saw his visitors he bowed low and said in a rather bumpy
voice:

"Happy day! Come in and shut the door, for it grows cool when the sun
goes down. Winter is now upon us."

"Why, it isn't cold a bit, outside," said Trot, "so it can't be winter
yet."

"You will change your mind about that in a little while," declared the
Bumpy Man. "My bumps always tell me the state of the weather, and they
feel just now as if a snowstorm was coming this way. But make
yourselves at home, strangers. Supper is nearly ready and there is food
enough for all."

Inside the house there was but one large room, simply but comfortably
furnished. It had benches, a table