before the monsters came.
âWe used to go to Broadstairs for the summer. You ever been to the seaside, Dakin?â He shook his head. âEh, poor little feller, fancy that! Deary me! Sometimes I wonder what we ever done to deserve having these monsters sent here.â
âYour reckon they was sent, Mrs. Churt?â
âOh, they were sent all right. I did hear, in the old days, factories used to dump all their rubbish in a quarry or out to sea; or, later on, up in the high sky, where they reckoned itâd blow away. Maybe somebody did the same thing with this little lot; just dumped them on us like kittens in a rain barrel. Or, maybe it was done out of spite; somebody had it in for us.â
Corporal Bigtoe and a couple of privates came in asking if there was any chance of a hot drink. While Mrs. Churt served them, Dakin pondered over what she had suggested.
Could somebody have wanted to get rid of the monsters and just thought this was the best place to tip them?
Maybe there was something in what Mrs. Churt had said.
*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *
On the eighteenth day of travel they approached the outskirts of Manchester. Progress had been extremely slow for the last forty-eight hours. Several bridges had needed a lot of repair; and two of the men engaged on this work had been lost: Private Goodwillie was carried off by a Manticore, while Private Skulk had the misfortune to look at a Basilisk and of course died instantly.
âDidnât keep his Snark glasses properly greased,â grumbled Sergeant Bellswinger.
âSnark glasses wonât help, not against a Basilisk,â said Corporal Enticknap. âIn fact, if you ask me, Snark glasses arenât much good at all. What we need is a Snark mask, like what Driver Catchpole got issued.â
âIf you know so much, why donât you go to the colonel and say so?â
âIâve a good mind to do just that.â
âYou go billocking to the colonel, Iâll put you on wind-vane duty,â growled the sergeant.
Wind-vane duty was very risky. It meant crawling along the top of the train, often through driving snow, clearing out the vanes, which soon became choked with dust when the train was in motion, and wiping the stellar energy panels. The worst danger was from Flying Hammerheads, but also the train rolled from side to side as it travelled, so there was a fair chance of being flung off.
Enticknap scowled, but remained silent. But when Dakin took in the colonelâs beautifully polished boots next morning, the latter demanded, âWhatâs all this about Snark masks?â
âTheyâre saying as how the men ought to be issued with them, sir.â
âDo you know how much a Snark mask costs, boy?â rapped the colonel.
âNo, sir.â
âLord Ealing told me I was only to use them in the last resort.â
âWhere would the last resort be, sir?â
âOh, go away!â
âSir,â said Dakin.
âWell? Now what?â
âSir, I never get a chance to play my drum. Serânt Bellswinger wonât let me. He says it makes too much finical row, that it would rouse up all the finical monsters between here and Gretna Green. Sir, when can I play it?â
âDonât you worry,â said the colonel, rolling over under the velvet bedspread to help himself to another cup of tea. âYouâll get to play it soon enough.â
At that moment both Dakin and Colonel Clipspeak were greatly astonished to hear a voice apparently coming out of the colonelâs early-morning teakettle. It said, âHey, we gotta bloke here wants to get to Hempfields. Whatâs it like out that way?â
âNo go,â said another voice. âItâs a regular breeding ground for Snarks. Tell âim, if âe goes, itâs at âis own risk. The corporation wonât admit liability.â
âOK, Iâll tell him that.â
âYou got Snarks your way