"Yes, but it's all very well to say 'Go home'; the only way back must be the way we came, and you know what that means; even if we can find it."
From Dulcie's looks she evidently didn't relish the prospect. The very idea of the Wizard made her tremble.
"I must say," continued her brother, "I don't know how we're going to manage it. We can't, so he said, cross the Brook—and you could see he meant it. So it's impossible, unless we roam about till we grow older, and then we shouldn't know the exact date when we leave off being children under ten."
"We shouldn't know the date at all," said Dulcie disconsolately; "we don't even know what time it is now."
"It feels like tea-time," remarked Cyril.
"Oh no, the sun's too hot for that."
"Let's go through our changes and see if we can make it all out," said Cyril; "that's the first thing to do."
They went carefully through their various experiences from the beginning.
"I counted there were ten in each bracelet, so we ought each to have five catseyes left, instead of none and no bracelets at all!" he concluded miserably. And they were both full of trouble. But soon, Dulcie exclaimed—
"Why, we are Billies! We must count five more for getting back each time into our own shapes."