THE BOX CHASE
towards Paint Land, I will go towards Nonsense Land. Then we shall know, if none of us find any boxes, that the hare is to be found in Rhyme Land, for he would not go to the tree.”
“But-what are we to do?” asked the others.
“Sit still for five minutes here,” said the Fraction, “and when the time is up help Repeater to call us back.”
“A splendid plan,” cried Tare.
“Grand!” said Tret.
“If I find a box,” said Ellessdee, “you must go on your journey towards Paint Land without me. I’m very sorry, but I think I must go back home.”
“And if I find a box,” said Sois, “the box chase must be finished in Music Land without me. I must go back, too.”
“We will first find a box, then we can decide what to do,” said Thirteen-fourteenths.
“One, two, three, away!” he shouted.
He, Ellessdee, and Sois were soon out of sight. For the first two minutes the others lay still, resting; but at the end of the third minute Tare said to Tret
“A box chase is very tiring, I don’t want to go any further.”
“Neither do I,” said Tret.
“At the end of the time they will come back,” said Tare, “and if they have found only one more box, we shall have to start the chase again. Don’t you think?”
“I do,” said one of the figures.
“So do I,” said another.
“Four minutes,” called Repeater.
“Well, then, don’t you also think if we are going, we may as well go at once?” said Tare.
“Wait until the time is up,” said Tret.
So they waited and rested, and when Repeater said, “Five minutes,” they all shouted, “Time’s up,” then picked themselves up from the ground, and ran down the path back to Sum Land as fast as their legs could carry them.
Ellessdee was the first of the three to reach the sign-post,
