d not seem to interfere with each other in any way. Further off,
and beyond them, there was a broad and endless plain of high green
stalks like ears of green wheat or millet, only taller and thinner.

He ran on, and now at his very feet, right in front of him, the green
caterpillars were moving. They were as big as leopards. As he drew
nearer they seemed to make way for him, and to gather themselves into
groups under the thick stems of the mushrooms. He walked along the
pathway they made for him, under the shadow of the broad, sunshade-like
roofs of these gigantic growths. It was almost dark now, yet he had no
doubt or difficulty as to finding his way. He was making for the green
plain beyond. The ground was dense with caterpillars; they were as
plentiful as ants in an ant's nest, and yet they never seemed to
interfere with each other or with him; they instinctively made way
for him, nor did they appear to notice him in any way. He felt neither
surprise nor wonder at their presence.

It grew quite dark; the only lights which were in this world came from
the twinkling eyes of the moving figures, which shone like little stars.
The night was no whit cooler than the day. The atmosphere was as steamy,
as dense and as aromatic as before. He walked on and on, feeling no
trace of fatigue or hunger, and every now and then he said to himself:
"I shall be there in time." The plain was flat and level, and covered
the whole way with the mushrooms, whose roofs met and shut out from him
the sight of the dark sky.

At last he came to the end of the plain of mushrooms and reached the
high green stalks he had been making for. Beyond the dark clouds a
silver glimmer had begun once more to show itself. "I am just in time,"
he said to himself, "the night is over, the sun is rising."

At that moment there was a great whirr in the air, and from out of
the green stalks rose a flight of millions and millions of enormous
broad-winged butterflies of every hue and description--silver, gold,
purple, brown and blue. Some with dark and velvety wings like the
Purple Emperor, or the Red Admiral, others diaphanous and iridescent as
dragon-flies. Others again like vast soft and silvery moths. They rose
from every part of that green plain of stalks, they filled the sky, and
then soared upwards and disappeared into the silvery cloudland.

Fletcher was about to leap forward when he heard a voice in his ear
saying--

"Are you 6493 Victoria? You are tal