*BY STREAM AND RIVERA 



153 



first stair ' bump ' on to my back. It hurts a little, 

 but is well worth the pain. No really good game 

 can be played without a certain amount of pain. 



That is the way to get down one stair, and you 

 can easily see for yourself that you have only to 

 roll the egg to the edge of the next one, and repeat 

 the ' bump,' in order to reach the bottom of the 

 flight. After that it is merely a matter of push- 

 ing past or over various obstacles. Of course, one 

 is bound to feel somewhat sore at the end of the 

 journey, but, as I say, the pleasure is well worth 

 the pain, and if you do happen to break the egg on 

 the way, you can always set to work and eat it up 

 at once, and so carry it inside you, all but the shell, 

 which is of no use to anybody. If you wonder 

 why one should take all that trouble — why not eat 

 the egg at once and have done with it — I can 

 only appeal to your own experience that one nice 

 meal eaten comfortably at home is worth ten eaten 

 elsewhere. 



Dear, oh dear ! I am dropping back into my old 

 silly way of wandering from the point ; I did think 

 that I had cured myself, but one never knows : old 

 habits will keep on cropping up. Would you kindly 

 oblige a poor old rat by telling him what he was 

 talking about ? I know, without your help. Eggs 



