It was a queer October place—
No house, you’d say, at all!
A wide brown wood with leaves for a floor,
And timbers straight and tall.
The little creatures that lived in there—
Fairies and furry things—
Scurried away when the children came,
With bashful scamperings.
It was a queer October place
As the travelers entered the woods, they heard funny little clicking sounds everywhere.
“It’s the sound a watch makes when you shut it,” Ann said.
“Maybe they have watches here instead of clocks,” remarked Amos.
“Not at all,” said a voice behind them. The voice came from a fat Brownie, who was sitting on a stone with his legs dangling. “They have clocks everywhere in Zodiac Town,” the Brownie resumed, “even out here in the suburbs. That noise is the Chestnut Chaps unbuckling their belts and throwing off their overcoats.”
The children looked as if they did not know whether he was serious or joking.