130 WHAT DAISY SAW ONE NIGHT. —

“The rule is, you don’t go home till morning,” said the
fairy ; ‘no one knows where your bat may be by this time, and
he wasn’t ordered to come for you till four”—and before Daisy
could say that she did not like that rule at all, the fairy was
at her side again, leading her along behind the mole into his
tunnel.

Tt was certainly the strangest place!—the mole went on
ahead quickly and easily, for he knew all about it.

In a perfectly straight line, as straight as an arrow—all
through the dark, although he had to plough his way through
the earth.

Nobody knows how a mole can do it; you could not even
walk blindfold across a field in a direct line, let alone having to
burrow a passage for yourself as you went.

It did not matter to the mole which way his fur was
rubbed ; and it seemed to keep quite clean and glossy, though
he was always pushing it through the damp soil. His eyes
were safe from harm—deeply sunken in his head.

When he was thirsty he dug wells for himself; when he
was hungry he hunted for worms; when he was sleepy he had
a castle to rest in—a safe castle, with rooms to choose from,
each with a passage leading a different way from it, so that he
could run off in either direction in case of a fright.

“Vou cannot do better than sleep here,’ grunted the mole,
turning round at last, when the tunnel he was digging led into
another—which was an old, well-beaten track, as one could see
from the shiny sides where the mole had polished them with
his fur by running backwards and forwards so often. “ This
is one of the high roads to my castle. It is a splendid place!
—no disagreeable sunshine to disturb you—and perfectly safe.
If you hear a noise—anything scratching or digging overhead,
for instance—you can run whichever way you like—down either