“I guess it’s all right, brother Nibby,” said Malkin.
They came to a stream of water, flowing along underground in the dark, and a little boat was tied to a stake in the stream. Merrimeg sat down at the back end of the boat, and the two gnomes sat down before her, each one with a paddle in his hand. The paddles began to dip in the water, and the little boat began to go swiftly up the stream.
“A little faster, brother,” said Malkin.
“Very good, brother, very good,” said Nibby.
With that, they began to paddle so fast that Merrimeg positively could not see their paddles, and the candles went out, and then she could not see anything at all. She felt that she was rushing along like lightning, and she had to hold on to the sides of the boat.
“It’s getting colder now,” said Malkin.
“So it is, brother, so it is,” said Nibby.
Merrimeg was so cold by this time that her teeth chattered.
“We ought to have asked her if she’d mind being cold,” said Malkin. “We forgot to ask her that.”
“Yes, we forgot to ask her that,” said Nibby. “But it’s too late now.”