"A nap!" exclaimed the Shaggy Man. "Why, it is only a little past noon. We can't sleep now."
"It is the custom in Hightown," remarked the Mayor placidly, "and you will soon come to enjoy the siesta as much as we. However, if you cannot sleep, you may sit on the front porch. But don't go off the porch and wander about, as you may come to the edge of the town and fall to the earth."
With this, the Lord High Mayor and his wife retired to their room and the visitors were left to themselves. There seemed nothing else to do but to follow the Mayor's suggestion and while away the Town's hour of sleep on the front porch. Here they found several chairs and a swing and soon made themselves comfortable.
There was nothing interesting about the scenery, and little to talk about, and they were beginning to be a bit bored when a saucy brown wren flitted out of the sky and perched on the porch railing, regarding Shaggy and his friends with bright little eyes.
"Strangers here, aren't you?" asked the bird. "Fine place to live. You'll like it, I'm sure."
"We don't like it and we don't intend to stay," said the Shaggy Man, a bit ill-humoredly.
"Well, if you don't like it, then why don't you leave right away?" asked the bird.
"How?" asked Shaggy. "Walk to the edge of the town and fall to the earth? We can't fly like you, you know."
"You don't need to fly. You can walk down through the air—or rather, swim down—using your arms to push you through the air. There's no gravity, you know." And with a flirt of its saucy tail the bird was gone.
With a shout, Twiffle leaped to his feet. "What fools we've been! Of course there's no gravity, and we can push ourselves right down to earth! Come on, let's be on our way."