stars.

These lovely meads and plains were, for the most part, all lonesome. Few
of the underground people were to be seen upon them, and those that were
just glided across them as if in the greatest hurry. It very rarely
happened that any of them danced out there in the open air. Sometimes
about three of them did so, or, at the most, half a dozen. John never
saw a greater number together. The meads were never cheerful except when
the servants, of whom there might be some hundreds, were let out to
walk. This, however, happened but twice a week, for they were mostly
kept employed in the great hall and adjoining apartments or at school.

For John soon found they had schools there also. He had been there about
ten months when one day he saw something snow-white gliding into a rock
and disappearing.

"What!" said he to his servant, "are there some of you that wear white
like the servants?"

He was informed that there were, but they were few in number, and never
appeared at the large tables or the dances, except once a year, on the
birthday of the great Hill-king, who dwelt many thousand miles below in
the great deep. These were the oldest among them, some of them many
thousand years old, who knew all things and could tell of the beginning
of the world, and were called the Wise. They lived all alone, and only
left their chambers to instruct the underground children and the
attendants of both sexes, for whom there was a great school.

John was much pleased with this intelligence, and he determined to take
advantage of it; so next morning he made his servant conduct him to the