Chapter 3 THE SAGE IN THE ONION FIELD.

"How absurd," laughed Dick, as he looked down from the-to him-enormous height of six feet. "What a thin, lanky-looking creature, I am, to be sure-and Fidge, too; he looks perfectly ridiculous"-for Fidge, also, was growing amazingly.

"How did it happen, Dick, dear?" asked Marjorie, in an awe-stricken voice. "It seems so funny to be up here in the air, and yet I don't feel in the least frightened, do you?"

"Of course not," said Dick, contemptuously. "Why, we just said we wished to be as tall as the Pater, you know, and it happened."

"Oh, yes; and I said I should like to float in the air. I suppose we can always do what we want to now-how lovely! Like the "Arabian Nights," isn't it?"

"I don't want to be thin, like a walking-stick," said Fidge, in a dissatisfied voice.

"No, it's rather horrid," said Dick. "Let's see; we said as tall as the Pater, didn't we?-not as big. I wonder if that makes any difference."

"I want to be as fat as old Mrs. Mofflet," said Fidge, mischievously.

The words were no sooner out of his mouth than he dwindled down to his usual height, and spread out in girth till he exactly resembled, in appearance, what one looks like in a concave mirror-that is, he was about twice as wide as he was high.

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear! That's worse than ever!" laughed the children, while little Fidge waddled about in an absurd way.

The gnomes were highly amused, and cut the most extraordinary antics in their glee.

"I think perhaps the best thing to do for the present would be to wish ourselves as we were," said Dick. "I have no doubt it will be very useful by and by to be any size we like, but just now it's rather awkward."

"Oh, let's be little, like the gnomes," cried Marjorie. "It will be such fun."

"All right," acquiesced Dick; "here goes-I wish I were as little as the gnomes."

"So do I," cried Marjorie.

"He was about twice as wide as he was high."

"Me, too!" cried Fidge.

To their great surprise, nothing happened. They waited a moment or two, staring at each other expectantly, and then Marjorie cried in a troubled voice-

"Oh, dear! I don't believe it's going to work, and we shall have to stay like this forever."

"What nonsense!" cried Dick.

"I say! I want to be as small as the gnomes," he shouted.

There was no result, however, and the children remained as they were.

"Oh! I know," he cried; "I ought to have the paper that the Ambassador gave me in my hand. Where is it?"

There was a great whispering amongst the gnomes, and at last one of them shouted out-

"We've taken it away."

"What for?" demanded Dick. "It was given to us; you had better give it up at once. What do you mean by it?"

There was another whispered consultation, and then one of the gnomes said, "Let them have it for now," and the paper was put down upon the ground at Dick's feet.

Dick stooped down and picked it up, and immediately the children began to dwindle down till they became as small as the little people themselves.

They had no sooner done so than the paper which the Ambassador had given them was suddenly snatched from Dick's hand and a number of the gnomes surrounded them, dancing about, turning somersaults, playing leap-frog, and capering about in the maddest way.

"Well, you've done it now," said one of them, tauntingly.

"What do you mean?" inquired Dick.

"Why, we've got the paper, and you can't grow any bigger until we allow you to."

"What a mean trick!" cried Dick, in disgust.

"Well, we don't think it at all fair," said the gnomes, "that you should be able to grow any size that you want to, while we have to keep little, so we are going to keep you here for a little while, and teach you to believe in fairies, do you see?"

"But we've got to find the Dodo in a week," expostulated Dick, "and if you keep us here, however are we to do that?"

"Oh, please give us the paper back," begged Marjorie. "I'm sure the Pater will be so vexed if we never grow any bigger than this any more." And she began to cry a little.

You see, such a lot of very unusual things had happened that she was a little excited and nervous.

"Well, we'll think about it," said the gnomes, running away and hiding among the rocks.

"Don't cry, Marjorie," said Dick, bravely, though he too felt a little anxious himself; for, you see, eleven inches is not very tall for any one to be, and he didn't care to admit what would happen if he went back to school in his present state.

"Chappel Minor has always been cheeky," he thought, "and so have Martin and Foster, and if I keep this size they will think they can do just as they like with me, and probably will turn me out of the cricket eleven, while that little wretch of a Castleton is sure to sneak all my pencils-he does now when he gets a chance." However, he kept these doleful thoughts to himself, and devoted himself to the task of consoling his sister and Fidge, and had soon talked them into such a cheerful frame of mind, that they really began to think that it was rather an advantage than otherwise to have lost the paper.

"For one thing, we shall not have to hunt for that old Dodo," argued Dick, "because even the Grand Panjandrum himself, whoever he may be, could not expect us to go far away while we remain as little as this, and so we are not in such great danger of being-er-er-thingummybobbed-you know-what the Ambassador said we should be, if we didn't find the wretched thing."

"Supposing we try and find the Ambassador," suggested Marjorie. "I don't think he was really very cross, only a little abrupt, you know; and we could explain everything to him, and perhaps he would give us a new paper."

"All right," said Dick, leading the way. "At any rate, he will be able to make us grow bigger-that is, if we wish to," he added, with a fine affectation of unconcern.

The children walked on for some time in the direction in which the Ambassador and his followers had disappeared, and they soon found themselves out of the cave and in a kind of forest.

"A curious little old man with a flowing beard came toward them."

"What funny trees," said Fidge, looking up over his head.

The others followed his example, and found that he had good cause for his surprise; the long, smooth trunks, without any leaves, ended in a kind of ball, while at the roots a kind of enormous bulb appeared.

"Whatever can they be?" cried Marjorie, in amazement.

"Onions!" was the reply, spoken by a strange voice.

The children turned around, and beheld a curious little old man with a long flowing beard coming toward them.

"Have you any other questions to ask?" he inquired, pleasantly.

"It's very kind of you, Sir," said Dick, who was the first to recover from the surprise which they had all experienced at this sudden apparition. "Will you, please, tell us where we are?"

"Oh," said the little man, with a smile, "this is the Field of Onions. And I am the Sage with the snowy beard who dwells in the Field of Onions. And that is the Hut of curious build which belongs to the Sage with the snowy beard who dwells in the Field of Onions.

"Is there anything else I can tell you? If so, pray ask me. I like it."

"What a funny man," whispered Marjorie. "Do you think he is quite right in his head?"

"Hush!" said Dick. "Perhaps he can direct us to the Little Panjandrum's, and then we can find the Ambassador easily."

"Little Panjandrum's, certainly," said the Sage, answering exactly as though he had been spoken to himself-

""Take the first to the right on Tuesday week,

The second to the left on Monday;

On Friday you'll not have far to seek,

And be sure not to travel on Sunday!"

"But it's no use going at all till you've found the Dodo," he added.

"Good gracious! how did you know that we were looking for it," cried Dick.

"Oh, I know everything," said the Sage, complacently. "Did you ever know a Sage who didn't?"

"I'm afraid I've never known one at all before, Sir," said Dick; "but I should think it must be very useful to know such a lot, isn't it?"

"Yes, it isn't bad," admitted the Sage; "would you like to know how I became so clever?"

"Oh, yes, please," cried all the children at once.

Motioning them to a seat on an onion bulb, the little man struck an attitude, and began-

"I was brought up on Verbs of irregular kind,

With a Pronoun or two as a treat,

While a strict course of Logic, to strengthen my mind,

My pastors and masters thought meet.

I had Lessons for breakfast, and Sums for my tea,

Learnt to play the Arithmetic nicely,

And gained all the prizes at School-don't you see,

For construing Doggerel concisely.

They were Isms, and Ologies, Science, and Cram,

Quadratic Equations, and Butter,

The Pons asinorum, and Strawberry Jam,

And the Cane, did I mumble or mutter."

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