Jordan College  and ric of all t , too, tain. ted from every period from to teentury. It   and present overlapping at every spot, and t   to fall doions time by the College as masons and scaffolders.

    t Mr. Parsloeac; trious termites over ted at t neone or rolls of simber.

    tates all over England. It  you could o Bristol in one direction and London in t of ts and atomcraft  paid rent to Jordan, and every quarter-day tot it all up, announce total to Concilium, and order a pair of s. Some of t by for reinvestment—Concilium  approved ter—and t o pay t stipends and ts (and tsmen and traders o buy books and anbarograp filled one side of tended, burro least, to buy test pus to equip the chapel.

    It ant to keep to date, because Jordan College er of experimental theology.

    Lyra kne muc least. So boast of it to ting Sc professors from else belong to Jordan and so must kno of Jordans under-Scholars.

    As for al the urchins.

    Sion t it s of tars and planets, iny particles of matter, but t ars  as al talking to tily, listening to tar daemons remarks, and t. But  conceive.

    Nor erested. In many cicular friend, to spit plum stones on to  like oside a orial reets, or stealing apples from t, or waging war.

    Just as ss of politics running belo, eies and feuds and treaties  to see!  could be more innocent and charming?

    In fact, of course, Lyra and  once. ts, and ts, and Lyra) of one college her.

    Lyra ured by t and Simon Parsloone-o t ty-four colleges, ions of alliance and betrayal. But ty betten in a moment acked a colleger: toget into battle against toisfying.

    But even tten o year Lyra and some toruce and raided ting tipping over tle t, before rolling tance til victors and vanquished alike resembled a flock of shrieking golems.

    tian families,  umn fairs, and icular, o t part of ty knoone.  in Oxford, sc.

    Mic tly painted narro until t to c  and cast it off from to float doting in ter traffic o end, looking for the bung.

    Lyra firmly believed in t out, sroop, t  once; but t find it, and o abandon sians caugo flee dripping and croriumphe narrow lanes of Jericho.

    t le savage, for t part. But s it   part of ual of Jordan College; and t someics represented by Lord Asriel. All s knoo give  over t o o find out more.

    So s. tion in ed to boast about, but ting o to be s) to to ea ed group of senior Scholars. She dreaded being seen by Roger.

    siged er at t sing inously in an armcil ter told o sit up, and t till even to laugh.

    s never varied. After tea, ter and ted left Lyra and ogeto stand in front of ell  s visit. And ster ry or Arabic or ory or anbarology, and  back ing on tcably until her words failed.

    Last year, before ion to to say, “And ime ly studying?”

    And s play. Sort of around t...play, really.”

    And  me see your hands, child.”

    S ion, and ook turned to look at , s Lyra.

    “Dirty,” said Lord Asriel, pus this place?”

    “Yes,” s ty. tier than mine.”

    “s your excuse?”

    “I mustve got ty after I washed.”

    “o get so dirty?”

    S  being on tually said so. “In some of the old rooms,” she said finally.

    “And where else?”

    “In times.”

    “And?”

    “Jeric Meadow.”

    “Nowhere else?”

    “No.”

    “Youre a liar. I saerday.”

    S ching her sardonically.

    “So, you play on t on. “Do you ever go into the library?”

    “No. I found a rook on t on.

    “Did you? Did you catc?”

    “It  foot. I o kill it and roast it but Roger said  better. So  scraps of food and some  got better and flew away.”

    “hos Roger?”

    “My friend. tchen boy.”

    “I see. So youve been all over the roof—”

    “Not all over. You cant get onto to jump up from Pilgrims to t opens onto it, but Im not tall enougo reac.”

    “Youve been all over t t about underground?”

    “Underground?”

    “t. Im surprised you  found t out. ell, Im going in a minute. You look hy enough.

    here.”

    and dre a handful of coins, from which he gave her five gold dollars.

    “ taugo say thank you?” he said.

    “thank you,” she mumbled.

    “Do you obey ter?”

    “Oh, yes.”

    “And respect the Scholars?”

    “Yes.”

    Lord Asriels daemon laugly. It  sound shed made, and Lyra blushed.

    “Go and play, then,” said Lord Asriel.

    Lyra turned and darted to to turn and blurt out a “Goodbye.”

    So Lyras life o iring Room, and first  Dust.

    And of course to ter t s erested. Sened eagerly noo anyone . So  deal more about it in to come, and eventually s Dust t in time, till being lived around her.

    And in any case to t. A rumor ering treets for some  made some people laug, as some people scoff at gs and ot anyone could imagine, co disappear.

    * * * It would his.

    East along t  boats and corn tankers,  o teddington, ill: to Mortlake, past t magician Dr. Dee; past Falkes brigains and banners by day, ree lamps and firee; past t tos endless drizzle of molten lead into vats of murky er; furtill, to o th.

    to disappear.

    ony Makarios.  s tted;  be eigen.  like  is a guess on , because oo. tonys not very brig  of clumsy tenderness t sometimes prompts o give  a sticky kiss on oo fuddled to start suc ss happening.

    At t tony is  t in Pie Street. s early evening, and  get fed at  a s t a soldier gave aking a message to  girl, but tonys not going to e t on food, whing.

    So , betalls and tune-paper stalls, tmongers and ttle daemon on c; and  and returns to  s, and finally  pie.

    tall , and ss, and  daemon leaps, but tonys sparro and tony reet already. Curses and abuse go  not far. ops running at teps of St. Catory, akes out eaming, battered prize, leaving a trail of gravy on .

    And c, a beautiful young lady anding in tory, eps above  mig a service is finis comes from the lady is holding a jeweled breviary.

    tony knoentedly deep in toes curled ins and chews and swallows while his daemon becomes a mouse and grooms her whiskers.

    t from beside t.  no ordinary monkey:  deep and lustrous gold. its eps tos a step above him.

    tion sideep or two.

    tcche monkey.

    t slole  s gentle and inviting. t resist. Stle flutter, up on to the monkeys hand.

    ts  anding and so aking ted o whisper.

    And tony turns.  .

    “Ratter!” h full.

    t must be safe. tony swallows ares.

    “iful lady. “s your name?”

    “tony.”

    “ony?”

    “Clarice alk.”

    “s in t pie?”

    “Beefsteak.”

    “Do you like cl?”

    “Yeah!”

    “As it  more cl t?”

    already.  t ted daemon o tiful young lady and treet and along to eps to a little green door in tall —at least, by t entrance; and  .

    * * * Little tony Makarios  to be caugories like  tony didnt notice, of course, or t t eamy cellar y.

    ttled on a benc t serving l from tove. tony ate t of   liquor  taking mucice of ook little notice of oo small to be a t, and too stolid to promise mucisfaction as a victim.

    It ion.

    “ you got us all here for?”

    ougcl on op lip and a gaunt black rat for a daemon. tanding near talking to a stout man ain, and as surned to ans all t.

    “e  your  mind helping us, do you?”

    No one could say a  and kind t t tever s gladly so as to stay in tle longer.

    Sold t ted to could send messages back to to let tain Magnusson ake tide o sea and set a course for th.

    Soon t to send a message to ing around tiful lady as se a fe tation and,  tc t of t into a scented envelope and e told ony o  ic idea of y to read it.  t o tell  o tle body to roked o pass the message on.

    tered around to say goodbye. troked all toucrengt of tain on board a steam launc tty. ts. tood on tty and ill sheir faces no more.

    turned back inside, led in , and ttle bundle of letters into the way she had come.

    Co entice a eventually people noticed, and tirred into reluctant action. For a le by little it cer a o tory and gave it nerength.

    And so terious group of encers all man ory told of a youto ims so t they followed him like sheep.

    As for  cories agreed. Some said it o o Fairyland. Oto a farm tened for table. Ot t and sold as slaves to ricartars....And so on.

    But one to  be referred to at all, and talking about t  seemed to settle on t anyones knowing whe Gobblers.

    “Dont stay out late, or t you!”

    “My cousin in Norton, stle boy ook by the Gobblers....”

    “tratford. th!”

    And, inevitably:

    “Lets play kids and Gobblers!”

    So said Lyra to Roger, one rainy afternoon tics. ed slave by time; o th.

    “?”

    “You , like the Gobblers do.”

    “You dont kno not do t at all.”

    “Youre afraid of em,” sell.”

    “I ent. I dont believe in em anyway.”

    “I do,” s I ent afraid eit do  time o Jordan. I seen iring Room and t e, and my uncle just give , h.”

    “fully. “t t in tc alloiring Room.”

    “Course not. t tell servants about a t. And I iring Room, so t.  to some tartars  s out, but  looked at o . My uncle said ied  to teach him a lesson.”

    Roger  t t Gobblers, but tory oo good to e, so took it in turns to be Lord Asriel and tartars, using s dip for the foam.

    raction; Lyra ill intent on playing Gobblers, and so tered by means of tlers spare set of keys. toget t vaults s Burgundy, its brant stone arced by pillars as ten trees, irregular flagstones lay underfoot, and on all sides ier upon tier, of bottles and barrels. It ing. itten again, toed from end to end rembling fingers, peering into every dark corner, ion gro in Lyras mind every moment: aste like?

    t. Lyra—over Rogers fervent protests—picked out t, tiest, greenest bottle s o extract t off at t corner, t tell aste muc so admit ed it  tcting more and more muddled: falling over, giggling senselessly, and co look like gargoyles, eacrying to be uglier ther.

    Finally, and almost simultaneously, t it o be drunk.

    “Do ter vomiting copiously.

    “Yes,” said Lyra, in tion. “And so do I,” subbornly.

    Lyra learned not episode except t playing Gobblers led to interesting places. S intervieo explore underground, for ion of t system extended over acres, Jordan (finding itself jostling for space above ground . Micy Library beime in to spread belohe surface.

    tunnels, ss, vaults, cellars, staircases  t t t as mucood on a sort of frotone.

    And no Lyra aste for exploring it, s, to t Gobblers surned to ing t could be more likely t t of sighe ground?

    So one day so t beloory. tions of Masters one one tablet below eacheir names:

    SIMON LE CLERC, MAStER 1765-1789 CEREBAtON REQUIESCANt IN PACE “s t mean?” said Roger.

    “t parts  bits Roman. And tes in ter. And t be his daemon.”

    t vault, tracing tters of more inscriptions:

    FRANCIS LYALL, MAStER 1748-1765 ZO IN PACE ICNAtIUS COLE, MAStER 1745-1748 MUSCA REQUIESCANt IN PACE On eacerested to see, a brass plaque bore a picture of a different being: t, t t, t to c permanently.

    “t skeletons in “em!” whispered Roger.

    “Moldering fless all ting about in ts.”

    “Must be gs down ly.

    Beyond t crypt tone sitioned off into square sections, and in eacion rested a skull.

    Rogers daemon, tail tucked firmly betle quiet howl.

    “hush,” he said.

    Lyra couldnt see Pantalaimon, but sing on oo.

    Sed t skull gently out of its resting place.

    “ you doing?” said Roger. “You ent supposed to touch em.”

    Surned it over and over, taking no notice. Somet of t t  the skull in alarm.

    “Its a coin!” said Roger, feeling for it. “Migreasure!”

    up to t  a coin, but a little disc of bronze ion s.

    “Its like ts  be.”