"This argument reminds me of the story of Tom Tick,
which my father used to tell."

"I have never heard that story," Inga answered.

"Well, as he told it, it ran like this:


"When Tom walked out, the sky to spy,
A naughty gnat flew in his eye;
But Tom knew not it was a gnat --
He thought, at first, it was a cat.

"And then, it felt so very big,
He thought it surely was a pig
Till, standing still to hear it grunt,
He cried: 'Why, it's an elephunt!'

"But -- when the gnat flew out again
And Tom was free from all his pain,
He said: 'There flew into my eye
A leetle, teenty-tiny fly.'"


"Indeed," said Inga, laughing, "the gnat was much
like your stones that seemed as big as mountains."

After their dinner they inspected the palace, which
was filled with valuable goods stolen by King Gos from
many nations. But the day's events had tired them and