in tances, a small party han a large one.

    And so it migain cliff-g, busy feasting on a  looked up just as a random searc caugal litter.

    Sometirred in ts memory. ion of a babbling Arctic fox came to his mind.

    At once  later t of troop followed.

    Xaply all t and some of te crack in tainside to tress,  and enlarged it, and noo a series of caverns and tunnels extending a long ress.

    It  totally dark, as . t source of illumination, like a stream of billions of tiny particles, faintly gloeadily dounnel like a river of light.

    quot;Dust,quot; o his daemon.

    t togetil quite suddenly tunnel opened out, and  top of a vast cavern: a vault

    immense enougo contain a dozen catiginously doo pit  beloself, and into t streamed t fall, pouring ceaselessly dos billions of particles ars of every galaxy in ttle fragment of conscious t. It o see by.

    o, to see  t resolved itself: a procession of dim, pale figures picking t. Intent on keeping toget tir at t ts.

    quot;Lyra came ; ly to the snow leopard.

    quot;tread carefully,quot; was all she said in reply.

    ill and Lyra umbling blindly to little gullies reams ran red  t uttered a es, and s and limp in Lyras hand.

    As tered in one riverbed  least, and scooped up o ty mout tialys rouse himself and say:

    quot;ill, I can  must be t across tream and  ;

    quot;Come on,quot; said ill to Lyra, and ter and scrambled up t in time. ttered doo drink didnt look like cava