"It's some kind of glanbrin," said one of them.
"What are you doing here?" said another. "Answer. Why have you come?"
"Sir," replied El-ahrairah, scarcely able to speak for terror, "I have come from the country of the sun, and I am looking for the Ilips."
"We are the Ilips. We kill all strangers. Did no one tell you that?"
Just at this moment, another of the Ilips spoke.
"Wait. It's wearing some sort of collar."
Another of the Ilips put its muzzle down to his neck and sniffed at the collar which Prince Rainbow had given him.
"This is an astral collar." He felt all the creatures round him draw back a little.
"Where did you get this?" the first Ilip asked him. "Did you steal it?"
"No, sir," replied El-ahrairah. "It was given to me before I set out: a gift from Lord Frith; a token of friendship to keep me safe among your people."
"From Lord Frith, you say?"
"Yes, sir. Prince Rainbow himself put it round my neck."
There was silence, then, for some little while. He was released from under the Ilip's paw, and another of them said, "Well, why have you come and what do you want with us?"
"Sir," answered El-ahrairah, "my people, who are called 'rabbits,' have no sense of smell. This makes their lives miserable and dangerous, and they suffer, as you would suppose. I learned that your people alone have the power to confer this gift, and I have come to beg you to bestow it on my people."
"You are the chief of these creatures, then, these 'rabbits,' are you?"
"Yes, sir."
"And you've come alone?"
"Yes, sir."
"You don't lack courage, do you?"
El-ahrairah said nothing, and again there was silence. They were all round him, and he felt himself choking in their hot breath. At length the same one said, "It is true that for many years we were the guardians of the Sense of Smell. But we had no use for it, because no other creatures seemed to lack it. It became a burden to us, and at last we gave it away."
"To whom?" asked El-ahrairah tremblingly.
"Why, to the King of Yesterday, of course. We couldn't give it to anyone else, could we?"
El-ahrairah felt bitterly mortified. To have accomplished such a journey, and to have been spared by the terrible Ilips, only to learn that they no longer possessed what he was seeking, was grievous indeed. But still he did his best to pull himself together.
"Sir," he said, "where is that King and which way shall I go to find him?"
He heard them conversing together, and at length the first Ilip said, "It would be too far for you to walk. You would lose your way. You would starve and die. You may come with me. I will take you on my back."
Full of gratitude, El-ahrairah prostrated himself before the Ilips and thanked them again and again. Finally one of them said, "Here you go, then," took him between its teeth and put him down on the first Ilip's back. It was roughly furred, and he had no difficulty in holding on.
They set out, going what seemed very fast. As they went, El-ahrairah explained to the Ilip that his friend the glanbrin was waiting for him at the place of stones, and asked whether they could go by that way.
"We can stop there, certainly," replied the Ilip. "It's on our way. But directly your friend smells me, he'll run."
"If you could put me down, sir, a little way off," said El-ahrairah, "I'll find him and explain. Then you could come up to us and take us both."
To this the Ilip agreed. El-ahrairah found the glanbrin, who at first was terrified at the very thought of riding on an Ilip's back. At length, however, El-ahrairah persuaded him, and the Ilip set out again, carrying them both.