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The rat stepped back, looking pleased with himself The computer hummed like a captive bumblebee, the screen flickered -- and went black

"Oh, no!" Gilbert Graytail ju at it frantically, but the screen did not respond

Ben and Sorrel exchanged anxious glances Gilbert leaped up, swearing, and slammed the lid of the laptop down over the keyboard

"Like I told you," he said crossly "Nothing but trouble Just because a little salt water got into it Iif you happen to drink a sip of salt water?" Furiously he jumped off the desk and onto the chair that sheltered his little study, slid down one of the chair legs, and began ru around in the matchbox index-card files

Ben and Sorrel lay down on the floor and watched "You mean you can’t help us after all?" asked Sorrel

"Yes, yes, I can" Graytail was fishing tiny fingernail-sized cards out of the files and flinging the won’t work I’ll just have to do it the old-fashioned way Can one of you great big giants open the third drawer down in the chest of drawers there?"

Ben nodded When he opened the drawer a large quantity of e and small, maps old and new It took Gilbert Graytail some time to find the one he was after It looked odd, quite different from the maps Ben knew, ain, with narrohite ribbons dangling froes

"A map?" said Sorrel, disappointed, when Gilbert proudly spread this oddity out in front of them "You mean all you have for us is aoffended, the rat put his paws on his hips

Sorrel didn’t knohat to say Tight-lipped, she stared down at the ly over the seas and ot half the world on it And very few blank spots -- only those places I couldn’t discover anything about But unfortunately, as I was saying,See these ribbons?" He beckoned the two of them over and pulled one of the ribbons Part of the map immediately unfolded, and another map came into view

"Cool!" exclaimed Ben

But Sorrel just made a face "What’s that for?"

"Thishis whiskers, "isthe ribbons you can see each part of thepleased with hied at his ear "Nohat else? Oh, yes Just a moment" Gilbert took a little tray from his desk On it stood six thimbles full of ink, each one a different color A bird’s feather with its quill sharpened lay beside the of the different colors for you," said Gilbert portentously "I expect you know the usual: green for lowland country, brown for mountains, blue for water, and so on and so forth Everyone knows that, but old," he said, dipping the pen into a thiht path And red," he added, carefully wiping the pen on the leg of the chair and dipping it into the red ink, "to shade in places you ought to avoid because the hu one another Yellow e stories about those parts, and s to theray ood place to rest" Gilbert wiped the pen on his white fur and looked up at his two custorowled Sorrel "All clear"

"Excellent!" Gilbert put a paw in his jacket pocket, brought out an ink pad and a tiny rubber stamp, and thumped it down on the bottom corner of thethe , satisfied "Easily recognizable" He dabbed at the mark with his sleeve, folded the map up with care, and looked expectantly at Sorrel "So, noe come to the matter of my fee"

"Fee?" said Sorrel, taken aback "Rosa didn’t say anything about any fee"

Gilbert immediately put a protective pan on the map "Oh, didn’t she? Typical Well, custo I leave to the," stammered Sorrel "Only a few roots and mushrooms"