Insteadofbeingaprisonerhereyoumaygoabroadagain，Pyecraft；
　　youmaytravel——“
　　Astillhappierideacametome。“Youneedneverfearashipwreck。
　　Allyouneeddoisjustslipoffsomeorallofyourclothes，takethenecessaryamountofluggageinyourhand，andfloatupintheair——“
　　Inhisemotionhedroppedthetack-hammerwithinanaceofmyhead。
　　“ByJove！“hesaid，“Ishallbeabletocomebacktotheclubagain。“
　　Thethingpulledmeupshort。“ByJove！“Isaidfaintly。“Yes。
　　Ofcourse——youwill。“
　　Hedid。Hedoes。Therehesitsbehindmenow，stuffing——asIlive！——
　　athirdgoofbutteredtea-cake。Andnooneinthewholeworldknows——
　　excepthishousekeeperandme——thatheweighspracticallynothing；
　　thatheisamereboringmassofassimilatorymatter，merecloudsinclothing，niente，nefas，themostinconsiderableofmen。TherehesitswatchinguntilIhavedonethiswriting。Then，ifhecan，hewillwaylayme。Hewillcomebillowinguptome……
　　Hewilltellmeoveragainallaboutit，howitfeels，howitdoesn’tfeel，howhesometimeshopesitispassingoffalittle。
　　Andalwayssomewhereinthatfat，abundantdiscoursehewillsay，“Thesecret’skeeping，eh？Ifanyoneknewofit——Ishouldbesoashamed……Makesafellowlooksuchafool，youknow。
　　Crawlingaboutonaceilingandallthat……“
　　AndnowtoeludePyecraft，occupying，ashedoes，anadmirablestrategicpositionbetweenmeandthedoor。
　　5。MR。SKELMERSDALEINFAIRYLAND
　　“There’samaninthatshop，“saidtheDoctor，“whohasbeeninFairyland。“
　　“Nonsense！“Isaid，andstaredbackattheshop。Itwastheusualvillageshop，post-office，telegraphwireonitsbrow，zincpansandbrushesoutside，boots，shirtings，andpottedmeatsinthewindow。
　　“Tellmeaboutit，“Isaid，afterapause。
　　“_I_don’tknow，“saidtheDoctor。“He’sanordinarysortoflout——
　　Skelmersdaleishisname。ButeverybodyaboutherebelievesitlikeBibletruth。“
　　Irevertedpresentlytothetopic。
　　“Iknownothingaboutit，“saidtheDoctor，“andIdon’tWANTtoknow。
　　Iattendedhimforabrokenfinger——MarriedandSinglecricketmatch——
　　andthat’swhenIstruckthenonsense。That’sall。ButitshowsyouthesortofstuffIhavetodealwith，anyhow，eh？Nicetogetmodernsanitaryideasintoapeoplelikethis！“
　　“Very，“Isaidinamildlysympathetictone，andhewentontotellmeaboutthatbusinessoftheBonhamdrain。Thingsofthatkind，Iobserve，areapttoweighonthemindsofMedicalOfficersofHealth。
　　IwasassympatheticasIknewhow，andwhenhecalledtheBonhampeople“asses，“Isaidtheywere“thunderingasses，“buteventhatdidnotallayhim。
　　Afterwards，laterinthesummer，anurgentdesiretosecludemyself，whilefinishingmychapteronSpiritualPathology——itwasreally，Ibelieve，stiffertowritethanitistoread——tookmetoBignor。
　　Ilodgedatafarmhouse，andpresentlyfoundmyselfoutsidethatlittlegeneralshopagain，insearchoftobacco。“Skelmersdale，“
　　saidItomyselfatthesightofit，andwentin。
　　Iwasservedbyashort，butshapely，youngman，withafairdownycomplexion，good，smallteeth，blueeyes，andalanguidmanner。
　　Iscrutinisedhimcuriously。Exceptforatouchofmelancholyinhisexpression，hewasnothingoutofthecommon。Hewasintheshirt-sleevesandtucked-upapronofhistrade，andapencilwasthrustbehindhisinoffensiveear。Athwarthisblackwaistcoatwasagoldchain，fromwhichdangledabentguinea。
　　“Nothingmoreto-day，sir？“heinquired。Heleantforwardovermybillashespoke。
　　“AreyouMr。Skelmersdale？“saidI。
　　“Iam，sir，“hesaid，withoutlookingup。
　　“IsittruethatyouhavebeeninFairyland？“
　　Helookedupatmeforamomentwithwrinkledbrows，withanaggrieved，exasperatedface。“OSHUTit！“hesaid，and，afteramomentofhostility，eyetoeye，hewentonaddingupmybill。“Four，sixandahalf，“hesaid，afterapause。“Thankyou，Sir。“
　　So，unpropitiously，myacquaintancewithMr。Skelmersdalebegan。
　　Well，Igotfromthattoconfidence——throughaseriesoftoilsomeefforts。IpickedhimupagainintheVillageRoom，whereofanightIwenttoplaybilliardsaftermysupper，andmitigatetheextremeseclusionfrommykindthatwassohelpfultoworkduringtheday。
　　Icontrivedtoplaywithhimandafterwardstotalkwithhim。IfoundtheonesubjecttoavoidwasFairyland。Oneverythingelsehewasopenandamiableinacommonplacesortofway，butonthathehadbeenworried——itwasamanifesttaboo。OnlyonceintheroomdidIheartheslightestallusiontohisexperienceinhispresence，andthatwasbyacross-grainedfarmhandwhowaslosingtohim。
　　Skelmersdalehadrunabreakintodoublefigures，which，bytheBignorstandards，wasuncommonlygoodplay。“Steadyon！“saidhisadversary。
　　“Noneofyourfairyflukes！“
　　Skelmersdalestaredathimforamoment，cueinhand，thenflungitdownandwalkedoutoftheroom。
　　“Whycan’tyouleave’imalone？“saidarespectableelderwhohadbeenenjoyingthegame，andinthegeneralmurmurofdisapprovalthegrinofsatisfiedwitfadedfromtheploughboy’sface。
　　Iscentedmyopportunity。“What’sthisjoke，“saidI，“aboutFairyland？“
　　“’Tain’tnojokeaboutFairyland，nottoyoungSkelmersdale，“saidtherespectableelder，drinking。Alittlemanwithrosycheekswasmorecommunicative。“TheyDOsay，sir，“hesaid，“thattheytookhimintoAldingtonKnollan’kep’himthereamatterofthreeweeks。“
　　Andwiththatthegatheringwaswellunderweigh。Onceonesheephadstarted，otherswerereadyenoughtofollow，andinalittletimeIhadatleasttheexterioraspectoftheSkelmersdaleaffair。
　　Formerly，beforehecametoBignor，hehadbeeninthatverysimilarlittleshopatAldingtonCorner，andtherewhateveritwasdidhappenhadtakenplace。ThestorywasclearthathehadstayedoutlateonenightontheKnollandvanishedforthreeweeksfromthesightofmen，andhadreturnedwith“hiscuffsascleanaswhenhestarted，“
　　andhispocketsfullofdustandashes。Hereturnedinastateofmoodywretchednessthatonlyslowlypassedaway，andformanydayshewouldgivenoaccountofwhereitwashehadbeen。ThegirlhewasengagedtoatClaptonHilltriedtogetitoutofhim，andthrewhimoverpartlybecauseherefused，andpartlybecause，asshesaid，hefairlygaveherthe“’ump。“Andthenwhen，sometimeafter，heletouttosomeonecarelesslythathehadbeeninFairylandandwantedtogoback，andwhenthethingspreadandthesimplebadinageofthecountrysidecameintoplay，hethrewuphissituationabruptly，andcametoBignortogetoutofthefuss。ButastowhathadhappenedinFairylandnoneofthesepeopleknew。TherethegatheringintheVillageRoomwenttopieceslikeapackatfault。Onesaidthis，andanothersaidthat。
　　Theirairindealingwiththismarvelwasostensiblycriticalandsceptical，butIcouldseeaconsiderableamountofbeliefshowingthroughtheirguardedqualifications。Itookalineofintelligentinterest，tingedwithareasonabledoubtofthewholestory。
　　“IfFairyland’sinsideAldingtonKnoll，“Isaid，“whydon’tyoudigitout？“
　　“That’swhatIsays，“saidtheyoungploughboy。
　　“There’sa-manyhavetriedtodigonAldingtonKnoll，“saidtherespectableelder，solemnly，“onetimeandanother。Butthere’snoneasgoesaboutto-daytotellwhattheygotbydigging。“
　　Theunanimityofvaguebeliefthatsurroundedmewasratherimpressive；
　　IfelttheremustsurelybeSOMETHINGattherootofsomuchconviction，andthealreadyprettykeencuriosityIfeltabouttherealfactsofthecasewasdistinctlywhetted。Iftheserealfactsweretobegotfromanyone，theyweretobegotfromSkelmersdalehimself；
　　andIsetmyself，therefore，stillmoreassiduouslytoeffacethefirstbadimpressionIhadmadeandwinhisconfidencetothepitchofvoluntaryspeech。InthatendeavourIhadasocialadvantage。
　　Beingapersonofaffabilityandnoapparentemployment，andwearingtweedsandknickerbockers，IwasnaturallyclassedasanartistinBignor，andintheremarkablecodeofsocialprecedenceprevalentinBignoranartistranksconsiderablyhigherthanagrocer’sassistant。
　　Skelmersdale，liketoomanyofhisclass，issomethingofasnob；