While he said these words there was a noise like a soft explosion and immediately a cold light， grey with a little blue in it， flooded the cavern. All hope that the speaker had been idly boasting when he spoke of his hundred armed followers died at once. Jill found herself blinking and staring at a dense crowd. They were of all sizes， from little gnomes barely a foot high to stately figures taller than men. All carried three.pronged spears in their hands， and all were dreadfully pale， and all stood as still as statues. Apart from that， they were very different； some had tails and others not， some wore great beards and others had very round， smooth faces， big as pumpkins. There were long， pointed noses， and long， soft noses like small trunks， and great blobby noses. Several had single horns in the middle of their foreheads. But in one respect they were all alike： every face in the whole hundred was as sad as a face could be. They were so sad that， after the first glance， Jill almost forgot to be afraid of them. She felt she would like to cheer them up.
