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Sorrel stared down at the dwarf in surprise "What good would that do you?"

Here Gravelbeard stepped forward, too "Dragons can scent treasure," he whispered "Everyone knows that"

"Really?" Sorrel grinned "Who told you so?"

"It says so in the old stories," replied Stonebeard "Tales of the tions here"

"There used to be lots of the his shoulders, "but they all went long ago" He glanced adlearandfather, that is, he used to ride one The dragon found hiold and silver, quartz and tourmaline, rock crystal, yellow lead ore, and ht," agreed Sorrel, shrugging her shoulders "I’ll ask the dragon when he wakes up But only if you shohere to find so, then!" The mountain dwarves led Sorrel to a place where the an to scramble expertly down the rock face

Sorrel retreated froo down there?" she asked "Not likely! I don’tonits back, but I’o down on your own and find on wakes up Okay?"

"Just as you like," said Leadenglea into the depths "But you will call, won’t you?"

"Brownie’s honor" Sorrel was shaking her head as she watched the little fellows go They were ju from rock to rock as nimbly as fat flies "I hope they knohat brownies like to eat," she o on watch

Unfortunately she never noticed Gravelbeard, the fattest of the dwarves, part company with the others and disappear inconspicuously beneath the branches of a fir tree

9 Nettlebrand, the Golden One

The dwarves were right The castle near the place where Firedrake had landed by erous for a silver dragon than for a few mountain dwarves Its occupant took no more interest in dwarves than he did in spiders or flies But he had been waiting for a dragon for o eroded the castle walls The toere in ruins, the stairways overgroith thistles and thornbushes But that didn’t bother the castle’s owner His armor protected him from the rain, cold, and wind Nettlebrand, the Golden One, lay in the deep, daood years when the castle roof was intact and he enjoyed chasing the only prey he liked to hunt -- silver dragons

Nettlebrand’s own scales still shone like pure gold His claere sharper than splinters of glass, his teeth had a keen cutting edge, and he wascreature But he was bored -- consue, , and so bad-teo eaten most of his servants