09-BOILING HOT TEA AND YAK CHEESE

BOILING HOT TEA AND YAK CHEESE We reached a small inn. Our new friends unloaded the luggage, and WE WENT IN. It looked sort of like a ski lodge inside. Rodents wearing warm hats and heavy coats sat around WOODEN TABLES, munching cheese. Others were squeaking away by the fire. The whole place was lit by oil lamps that cast an eerie glow on the room. I cleared my throat. "We are looking for a middle-aged rodent with orangish-brown fur," I told our guide. "He's not very tall and he wears glasses."

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Ratfur nibbled COME CHESSE and took a few sips of boiling hot tea. "Ummm, not very tall, you say? With orangish-brown fur? Wearing glasses?" he mumbled, "Say, I think I saw a rodent like him about six months ago." I was very excited. "You saw him? Where did he go? Please tell me, it's a matter of life or death!" I squeaked. Ratfur nibbled away on another piece of cheese. "Isn't this the best stuff?" he remarked. "It's yak cheese. Have you ever Seen a yak? They look like bulls, but their horns are long and curved. They are came and useful beasts. They

give us MILK, fur, and fat. See the lamp over there? It uses Yak fat." I waited impatiently. I didn't want to rush our guide. If I got under his fur, he might not want to tell me anything. After nine more nibbles of cheese and fifteen more sips of tea, Ratfur sat back. Then he grabbed my paw and began to whisper. "Okay, here's the scoop," he began. "The mouse you mentioned didn't want anyone to know where he was going. But I heard him say something about CHOMOLUNGMA."

"Chomolungma?" I asked with a sigh of relief. "Well, in that case, finding him should be as easy as RUNNING up a clock! All we have to do is go to Chomolungma! By the way, how far is Chomolungma from here?" Ratfur gave me a funny look. "You can't go to Chomolungma," he squeaked. "Why?" I asked, surprised. "You've got to CLIMB Chomolungma! It's the Mother of the World!" I scratched my head. "The Mother of the World?" I asked. Ratfur nodded. "Tibetans call it Chomolungman, the MOTHER OF THE WORLD," he explained. "But you call it MOUSE EVEREST!!!