The people round the children pushed them gently forward. And then they saw that in the middle of the hall was a throne of silver, spread with a fringed cloth of checkered silver and green, and on it, with the Mouldiwarp standing on one side and the Mouldierwarp on the other, the Mouldiestwarp was seated in state and splendor. He was much larger than either of the other moles, and his fur was as silvery as the feathers of a swan. Every one in the room was looking at the two children, and it seemed impossible for them not to advance, though slowly and shyly, right to the front of the throne. Arrived there, it seemed right to bow, very low. So they did it. Then the Mouldiwarp said-- "What brings you here?" "Kind magic," Elfrida answered. And the Mouldierwarp said-- "What is your desire?" And Edred said, "We want Dickie, please." Then the Mouldiestwarp said, and it was to Edred that he said it-- "Dickie is in the hands of those who will keep him from you for many a day unless you yourself go, alone, and rescue him. It will be difficult, and it will be dangerous. Will you go?" "Me? Alone?" said Edred rather blankly. "Not Elfrida?" "Dickie can only be ransomed at a great price, and it must be paid by you. It will cost you more to do it than it would cost Elfrida, because she is braver than you are." Here was a nice thing for a boy to have said to him, and before all these people too! To ask a chap to do a noble deed and in the same breath to tell him he is a coward! Edred flushed crimson, and a shudder ran through the company. "Don't turn that horrible color," whispered a white toreador who was close to him. "This is the _white_ world. No crimson allowed." Elfrida caught Edred's hand. "Edred is quite as brave as me," she said. "He'll go. Won't you?" "Of course I will," said Edred impatiently. "Then ascend the steps of the throne," said the Mouldiestwarp, very kindly now, "and sit here by my side." Edred obeyed, and the Mouldiestwarp leaned towards him and spoke in his ear. So that neither Elfrida nor any of the great company in the White Hall could hear a word, only Edred alone. "If you go to rescue Richard Arden," the Mouldiestwarp said, "you make the greatest sacrifice of your life. For he who was called Richard Harding is Richard Arden, and it is he who is Lord Arden and not you or your father. And if you go to his rescue you will be taking from your father the title and the Castle, and you will be giving up your place as heir of Arden to your cousin Richard who is the rightful heir." "But how is he the rightful heir?" Edred asked, bewildered.