Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson Page A

the Hemulen reflectively 'Didn't they tell Sniff he was a silly old mouse?'
    Sniff blushed and tossed his head.
    'Go and talk to them yourself if you're so clever,' he said.
    So the Hemulen lumbered away to the cellar steps and called out kindly: 'Welcome to Hoominmouse!'
    Thingumy and Bob stuck their heads out of the potato pile and looked at him.
    'Mere's some hilk,' continued the Hemulen.
    Then they scampered up the steps and into the drawing-room.
    Sniff looked at them and noticed that they were much smaller than he was, so he felt kinder and said, condescendingly, 'Hullo. Nice to see you.'
    'Thanks. Yame to sou,' said Thingumy.
    'Did I fell smood?' enquired Bob.
    'What do they say now?' asked Moominmamma. 'They're hungry' said the Hemulen. 'But they still don't seem to take to Sniff.'
    'Give them my compliments then,' said Sniff, hotly, 'and say that never in my life have I seen two such herring-faces. And now I'm going out.'
    'Piff is sneevish,' said the Hemulen. 'Nake no totice.'
    'Anyway come in and have some coffee,' said Moominmamma nervously, and she showed Thingumy and Bob out on to the veranda. The Hemulen, who was very proud of his new rank as interpreter, followed them.
    *
    And that was how Thingumy and Bob came to live at Moominhouse. They didn't make much noise, spent most of the time hand-in-hand, and never lost sight of their suitcase. But towards dusk on that first day they began to get very worried: they ran frantically up and down stairs several times, and eventually hid under the drawing-room carpet.
    'Mot's the waiter?' asked the Hemulen.
    'The Groke is coming!' whispered Bob.
    'Groke? Who's that?' asked the Hemulen, getting a bit frightened.
    'Tig and brim and gerrible!' said Bob. 'Lock the door against her.'
    The Hemulen ran to Moominmamma and told her the awful news.
    'They say that a big and grim and terrible Groke is coming here. We must lock all the doors tonight.'
    'But I don't think any of the doors have keys, except the cellar,' said Moominmamma in a worried voice. 'Dear me! It's always the same with foreigners.' And she went to talk to Moominpappa about it.
    'We must arm ourselves and move the furniture in front of the door,' declared Moominpappa. 'A large Groke like that may be dangerous. I shall set an alarm clock in the drawing-room, and Thingumy and Bob can sleep under my bed.'
    But Thingumy and Bob had already crept into a bureau drawer and refused to come out.
    Moominpappa shook his head and went to the woodshed for his blunderbuss.
    The evenings were already beginning to draw in; the glow-worms were out with their little torches, and the garden was filled with black, velvet shadows. The wind soughed drearily through the trees, and Moominpappa felt an uncanny feeling creeping over him as he went down the path. Suppose this Groke were hiding behind a bush! What did she look like, and above all, how big was she? When he came in again he put the sofa in front of the door and said: 'We must leave the light on all night. You must all be on the alert and Snufkin must sleep indoors.' It was terribly exciting.
    Then he knocked on the bureau drawer and said: 'We shall protect you!' But there was no answer, so he pulled the drawer out to see if Thingumy and Bob had already been kidnapped. However, they slept peacefully, and beside them lay their suitcase.
    'Anyway let's go to bed,' said Moominpappa. 'But arm yourselves all of you.'
    With much noise and chatter they went off to their rooms and presently silence reigned in Moominhouse, while the solitary kerosene lamp burned on the drawing-room table.
    It was midnight. Then one o'clock struck. A little after two the Muskrat woke up and wanted to get out of bed. He staggered sleepily downstairs and stopped in amazement in front of the sofa which stood across the door. 'What an idea!' he muttered, trying to drag it away, and then of course the alarm clock that Moominpappa had put there started ringing.
    In a moment the house was filled with screams,