“How long was the time that the lord Oro set apart for sleep?” I asked.
She paused as though puzzled to find words to express her meaning, then held up her hands and said:
“Ten,” nodding at her fingers. By second thoughts she took Bickley’s hands, not mine, and counted his ten fingers.
“Ten years,” said Bickley. “Well, of course, it is impossible, but perhaps—” and he paused.
“Ten tens,” she went on with a deepening smile, “one hundred.”
“O!” said Bickley.
“Ten hundreds, one thousand.”
“I say!” said Bickley.
“Ten times ten thousand, one hundred thousand.”