Andy was thinking. "If we could find a long enough stick, we could carry it with us; then we could slide down it. After that it would be easy." So they hunted for a stick and finally found one that looked as if it would do, but it was all they could do to get it into the basement opening. Once in, however, it was easily pulled down the chute to the edge of the drop below. Andy and Hortense lowered it carefully until the end rested on the bottom. "Hooray," said Andy. "It's long enough." And climbing onto it, he slid down and was soon out of sight. "All right," he shouted a moment later, "I'm down." Hortense then took hold, and with Andy steadying the stick at the bottom, she soon slid down and stood behind him. Hand in hand they ran down the dark passage that led to the little door. It seemed a long way, and when they arrived, the little door seemed as big as any ordinary door. Andy pulled at the latch and swung it open, and there before them was the shining tunnel that curved out of sight. They stood a moment looking at it. "Where do you suppose it goes?" Andy asked. "It must go to the Little People," said Hortense. "Nobody else could use it." "We'll find out, at any rate," said Andy, and together they ran down it. It curved and curved and grew brighter and brighter as they ran, always a little downhill. "I believe there's no end to it," said Hortense after they had gone what seemed a long way. "There must be," said Andy. "Why I believe this is the end, and it's raining." They came into what seemed to be a large cave whose roof was high above them, and from the roof water was dripping as fast and as thick as rain. The cave was as bright as moonshine and the drops sparkled as they fell. Through the falling drops, far on the other side of the cave, they saw a bright opening like the one through which they had come. "We must run across," said Hortense, and hand in hand they dashed through the rain and into the little tunnel which was just like the one they had left, except that it began to slope up instead of down and soon was quite steep. As they paused for breath after climbing a long distance, Hortense, who had been thinking hard, said to Andy, "Do you know, I believe the cave with the falling water was under the brook, and now on this side we are going up the inside of the mountain." "Perhaps we will come out in the cave where the Little People live," said Andy. "At least Fergus thinks they live there." They hurried on, hoping that Andy's guess might be right, but when at last they reached the end of the passage and unlatched a little door exactly like that through which they had entered, they came out neither upon the mountain side nor in a cave, but in a strange country such as they had never seen before. The sky was lemon colored and the trees were dark red.