At the drawing-room door stood Mother fanning herself with a black fan. The drawing-room was full of sweet smelling, silky, rustling ladies and men in black with funny tails on their coats—like beetles. Father was among them, talking very loud, and rattling something in his pocket. “What a picture!” cried the ladies. “Oh, the ducks! Oh, the lambs! Oh, the sweets! Oh, the pets!” All the people who couldn’t get at Moon kissed Sun, and a skinny old lady with teeth that clicked said: “Such a serious little poppet,” and rapped him on the head with something hard. Sun looked to see if the same concert was there, but he was gone. Instead, a fat man with a pink head leaned over the piano talking to a girl who held a violin at her ear. There was only one man that Sun really liked. He was a little grey man, with long grey whiskers, who walked about by himself. He came up to Sun and rolled his eyes in a very nice way and said: “Hullo, my lad.” Then he went away. But soon he came back again and said: “Fond of dogs?” Sun said: “Yes.” But then he went away again, and though Sun looked for him everywhere he couldn’t find him. He thought perhaps he’d gone outside to fetch in a puppy. “Good night, my precious babies,” said Mother, folding them up in her bare arms. “Fly up to your little nest.” Then Moon went and made a silly of herself again. She put up her arms in front of everybody and said: “My Daddy must carry me.” But they seemed to like it, and Daddy swooped down and picked her up as he always did. Nurse was in such a hurry to get them to bed that she even interrupted Sun over his prayers and said: “Get on with them, child, _do._” And the moment after they were in bed and in the dark except for the nightlight in its little saucer. “Are you asleep?” asked Moon. “No,” said Sun. “Are you?” “No,” said Moon. A long while after Sun woke up again. There was a loud, loud noise of clapping from downstairs, like when it rains. He heard Moon turn over. “Moon, are you awake?” “Yes, are you.” “Yes. Well, let’s go and look over the stairs.” They had just got settled on the top step when the drawing-room door opened and they heard the party cross over the hall into the dining-room. Then that door was shut; there was a noise of “pops” and laughing. Then that stopped and Sun saw them all walking round and round the lovely table with their hands behind their backs like he had done. . . . Round and round they walked, looking and staring. The man with the grey whiskers liked the little house best. When he saw the nut for a handle he rolled his eyes like he did before and said to Sun: “Seen the nut?” “Don’t nod your head like that, Moon.” “I’m not nodding. It’s you.” “It is not. I never nod my head.” “O-oh, you do. You’re nodding it now.” “I’m not. I’m only showing you how not to do it.”