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An owl called, its shuddering hoots repeating s swooped and a young rabbit, captured by sharp talons, shrieked as he was lifted to his dooht eyes fro Two deer h a meadow A thin cloud slid across the h the sht was their time of work, the tihts had drifted away and even breathing and heartbeats had slowed The outdoors ake and stirring but the little house was dark and silent They tiptoed, and whispered Unaware, the wo, on his pillow bed of cedar shavings at the foot of the wos now and then as if chasing a drea?" Littlest One asked suddenly

"Shhh"

They crept through the bedrooht Very quietly, though"

"I asked if we are a kind of dog"

Littlest One, whose name was someti on this night with Fastidious, the one who had been designated her teacher Littlest was very setic and curious Fastidious was tired, impatient, and had a headache She sniffed in exasperation

"Whatever ? The other learners never ask questions like that"

"That’s because they don’t take tiht now I’"

"You just tiptoed past one What did you notice about hiy breath, and his upper lip was folded under by ave him an odd expression"

"Does he resemble us in the least?"

Littlest pondered "No But I believe there are s We saw that book, re," Fastidious said "There’s o down the stairs yet"

Littlest One hurried along The stairs were difficult, and she had to concentrate

"You do remember the book, don’t you? Ouch!" She had stumbled a bit

"Grasp the carpet fibers Look how I’ it"

"Couldn’t we flutter down?"

"We can’t waste our flutters They use up energy"

They both made their way carefully down "I hear there are houses that have no stairs," Fastidious murmured in an irritated tone "None at all I soned this particular house"

Littlest looked around when they reached the bottoe roo The sht on the floor by the rug’s edge "I think this house is lovely," she said "I wouldn’t want any other house"

They tiptoed across Littlest noticed her own shadow in the oodness!" she exclaimed "I didn’t knoe had shadows!"

"Of course we do All creatures have shadows They are a phenoht What a fine phrase, Littlest thought She twirled suddenly on the rug and watched her shadow dance

"Why is your shadow darker thanthe difference just then

"I’m--well, I’m thicker than you You’re barely formed yet You’re practically transparent"

"Oh" Littlest examined her own self and saw that it was true She had not paid much attention before to her own parts Now she touched her ears, watching the shadow’s arms move, too; then she swiveled her neck to peer down at her own tiny behind

"I do not have a tail," she announced "I think I a"

"There You have answered your own question Co"

Reluctantly, Littlest scurried across the design of the carpet, beyond the les, and onto the pine-boarded floor, which was always a little dangerous because of splinters

"What if the dog woke? Would he see us? Or snificant nose And if he did see us, or serous for us?

"Or the woht, remember? Because there was a bat in the house? It swooped and woke her somehow She didn’t like the bat She was quite brave, I reht, which here he had wanted to be all along, doing his night food-finding

"But what if our little footsteps and flutterings had woken her? Would she have seen us?

"Are we visible to her?

"I knoe don’t fly the way bats do, but we operate at night Might we be a type of bat?"

Fastidious turned suddenly with a very annoyed gesture "Enough! Hush! Stop that questioning! We have our work to do You insisted on co frayed I want no ht I promise," Littlest One said obediently They continued on, one following the other