"What is it?" Andy asked.
"Now we can go through the little door and down the shining tunnel!" said Hortense.
It was so bright an idea that they wondered they hadn't thought of it sooner.
"But we're so small, how'll we ever get to the bottom of the chute? It'll be twice as high as we are."
Hortense hadn't thought of this difficulty.
"We can't go through the kitchen either, for we might be seen," said she. "Besides, the kitchen steps would be too high for us."
Andy was thinking.
"If we could find a long enough stick, we could carry it with us; then we could slide down it. After that it would be easy."
So they hunted for a stick and finally found one that looked as if it would do, but it was all they could do to get it into the basement opening. Once in, however, it was easily pulled down the chute to the edge of the drop below. Andy and Hortense lowered it carefully until the end rested on the bottom.
"Hooray," said Andy. "It's long enough."