es.'

You know the kind of stables they would be? The long shed with stalls
such as you had, when you were little, for your little wooden horses and
carts? Only there were not only horses here, but every sort of animal
that has ever been ridden on. Elephants, camels, donkeys, mules, bulls,
goats, zebras, tortoises, ostriches, bisons, and pigs. And in the last
stall of all, which was not of common wood but of beaten silver, stood
the very Hippogriff himself, with his long, white mane and his long,
white tail, and his gentle, beautiful eyes. His long, white wings were
folded neatly on his satin-smooth back, and how he and the stall got
here was more than Philip could guess. All the others were Noah's Ark
animals, alive, of course, but still Noah's Arky beyond possibility of
mistake. But the Hippogriff was not Noah's Ark at all.

'He came,' Mr. Noah explained, 'out of a book. One of the books you used
to build your city with.'

'Can't we have _him_?' Lucy said; 'he looks such a darling.' And the
Hippogriff turned his white velvet nose and nuzzled against her in
affectionate acknowledgment of the compliment.

'Not if you both go,' Mr. Noah explained. 'He cannot carry more than one
person at a time unless one is an Earl. No, if I may advise, I should
say go by camel.'

'Can the camel carry two?'

'Of course. He is called the ship of the desert,' Mr. Noah informed
them, 'and a ship that wouldn't carry more than one would be simply
silly.'

So _that_ was settled. Mr. Noah himself saddled and bridled the camel,
which was a very large one, with his own hands.

'Let me see,' he said, standing thoughtful with the lead rope in his
hand, 'you'll be wanting dogs--'

'I _always_ want dogs,' said Philip warmly.

'--to use in emergencies.' He whistled and two Noah's Ark dogs leaped
from their kennels to their chains' end. They were dachshunds, very long
and low, and very alike except that one was a little bigger and a little
browner than the other.

'This is your master and that's your mistress,' Mr. Noah explained to
the dogs, and they fawned round the children.

'Then you'll want things to eat and things to drink and tents and
umbrellas in case of bad weather, and---- But let's turn down this
street; just at the corner we shall find exactly what we want.'

It was a shop that said outside 'Universal Provider. Expeditions fitted
out at a moment's notice. Punctuality and dispatch.' The shopkeeper came
forward politely. H