"I have often heard of this passage, which was once built by a Magician who was a great traveler.

He thought it would save him the bother of going around the earth's surface, but he tumbled through the Tube so fast that he shot out at the other end and hit a star in the sky, which at once exploded." "The star exploded ?" asked Betsy wonderingly.
"Yes; the Magician hit it so hard." "And what became of the Magician ?" inquired the girl.
"No one knows that," answered Polychrome.

"But I don't think it matters much." "It matters a good deal, if we also hit the stars when we come out," said Queen Ann, with a moan.
"Don't worry," advised Polychrome.

"I believe the Magician was going the other way, and probably he went much faster than we are going." "It's fast enough to suit me," remarked Shaggy, gently removing Polychrome's heel from his left eye.

"Couldn't you manage to fall all by yourself, my dear ?" "I'll try," laughed the Rainbow's Daughter.
All this time they were swiftly falling through the Tube, and it was not so easy for them to talk as you may imagine when you read their words.