All about them was only the dark night, while the cold of the evening pierced them to the bone. Chrysomela pressed close to Little Tom, but she was so weary, she could hardly stand on her feet. Tom feared to leave her, lest he might lose her, so, supporting her as best he could, stumbled on with her along the furrow until they came to a broad hole. He wanted at once to step in with Chrysomela, not caring who was there, and to ask for shelter, when, suddenly, out of the darkness, came a gigantic animal in a fur coat, with bristling whiskers and puffed out cheeks. It was the Hamster. [Illustration] He was about to slide into the hole, when he smelled something strange. He sniffed about him and peered into the darkness with his close-set eyes. When he saw the poor little travelers and how they were pressing together close to the hole, trembling with the cold, he said kindly, »Hullo there. Where are you going so late, you little travelers?« Tom advanced and, bowing politely before the Hamster, asked him for shelter for a weak, ill traveler. When the Hamster saw that there was a lady with Tom, he acted very courteously, and immediately invited them to come in. He ran ahead and returned at once with a torch of rotten wood, with which he lighted them along the corridor, until they came to his dining-room. There it was warm and cosy. The torch shone brightly and, when Chrysomela had removed her cloak and sat on the Hamster's bed, he wondered at her beauty. Then he ran to the pantry, shook out the grains which he had hidden in his baggy cheeks and, choosing from his store the best morsels, placed them before his guests. They were so dainty and delicate that they just melted in their mouths. Chrysomela rested. She gathered her golden, wind-blown hair into braids and thanked the good Hamster for his kindly courtesy with a sweet smile. For a little while, the fever left her and she seemed to be gaining strength. The Hamster outdid himself with attentions and brought out everything good that he had; but Chrysomela said that she only wanted to rest, so they prepared a soft bed for her, covered her with a warm coat and said good night. They then went into the pantry where there was room for both Tom and the Hamster. The Hamster had a wonderful store for the winter and showed Tom all his rooms filled with grain. One held oats, a second, wheat, and the third, rye. Everything was thoroughly peeled, cleaned and carefully put away in dry places. Tom praised his fine housekeeping and when the Hamster asked whence they had come and whither they were going, he told him their adventures. They talked late into the night, and when the Hamster learned that Tom was a prince and king of the Ladybirds' realm, he said that he had never seen gnomes but had heard very much about them from a mouse family that lived under the chapel by the forest.