ing with amusement
at her lack of information, "only a step-husband. When I'm away from
Avrillia I don't need the step."

All this time they had been walking along hand in hand. Sara noticed
that they had left the Verge behind, and were following a very
pleasant sort of ridge, from which they could see down into a sort of
hollow for smiles and smiles, and, beyond the hollow, the buff-colored
hills and mountains that formed the walls of the amphitheatre. There
were not so many Gugollaph-trees as there were in the Garden and along
the road to the Dimplesmithy, owing to the different topography of the
country; instead, there were a good many poker-bushes.

"My relations live in a colony," said Pirlaps. "There used to be
nearly seven hundred of them; but now there are only eight hundred and
three."

And just at that moment they came in sight of the colony. It consisted
in a large number of odd, attractive-looking little houses grouped
around an open space covered with pleasant red grass, which Pirlaps
told her was an uncommon. In the middle of the uncommon was a sort of
platform, and upon the platform there was something which Sara, at
first glance, took to be an enormous statue. But even at that distance
she could see it move; so she hastened to ask Pirlaps what it was.

"Why, that's my Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather," said Pirlaps,
with a good deal of pride. "He occupies the Post of Honor in the
colony, you know, because he's the oldest and the largest. He's really
great, and quite pleasant; you'll enjoy meeting him."

By this time they were going down a little shady road that led
straight to the uncommon. Sara was so struck by the large number of
curious and interesting people she saw on all sides, going quietly
about their regular occupations, that she could hardly look where she
was going. But Pirlaps led her right to the foot of the post, and the
first thing she knew he was introducing her. "This is Sara,
Great-Great-Great-Great," he was saying; and Sara looked up and saw,
sitting in a sort of easy chair on top of the post, the very largest
person she had ever seen. In size he was a veritable giant, or even an
ogre; but anybody could see that in disposition he was as far as
possible from being either. Indeed, his disposition was evidently very
like that of her own grandfather (who wasn't great at all, at least
not in comparison with this one), even to the bag of marshmallows in
his pocket. Sara could see it