can play solitaire with the members of your own family for pegs, if you
like, and if none of them rebel. You can play checkers with a little
community of meek, like-minded people. But when it comes to the handling
of a great state, you will find that nature has emptied a box of chessmen
before you, and you must play with them so as to give each its proper
move, or sweep them off the board, and come back to the homely game such
as I used to see played with beans and kernels of corn on squares marked
upon the back of the kitchen bellows.

It was curious to see how differently Number Five's narrative was
received by the different listeners in our circle. Number Five herself
said she supposed she ought to be ashamed of its absurdities, but she did
not know that it was much sillier than dreams often are, and she thought
it might amuse the company. She was herself always interested by these
ideal pictures of society. But it seemed to her that life must be dull
in any of them, and with that idea in her head her dreaming fancy had
drawn these pictures.

The Professor was interested in her conception of the existence of the
Lunites without waste, and the death in life of the nitrogen-breathing
Saturnians. Dream-chemistry was a new subject to him. Perhaps Number
Five would give him some lessons in it.

At this she smiled, and said she was afraid she could not teach him
anything, but if he would answer a few questions in matter-of-fact
chemistry which had puzzled her she would be vastly obliged to him.

"You must come to my laboratory," said the Professor.

"I will come to-morrow," said Number Five.