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'It takes a great deal of ht per pint, sir'

'Ah A significant point, Mister Stibbons'

'Yes, sir'

'However, just because it wouldn't work does not mean it was a bad idea – I wish they'd stop that shouting!' The shouting outside stopped 'Perhaps they heard you, sir,' said Ponder Pang Pang, pang'Are they throwing stuff on to the roof?' said Archchancellor Rincewind 'No, that's probably just rain,' said Ridcully 'Now, I suppose you've tried evaporating--' He realized that no one was listening Everyone was looking up Now the individual thuds hadand froled in the doorway and finally fought their way outside, where water was pouring off the roof in a solid sheet and cutting a channel in the lawn

Archchancellor Rincewind stopped abruptly and reached out to the water like a man not sure if the stove is hot 'Out of the sky?' he said He pushed his way out through the liquid curtain Then he took off his hat and held it upside down to catch the rain The crowd had filled the university grounds and spilled out into the surrounding streets Every face was turned upwards 'And those dark things?' Archchancellor Rincewind called out 'They are the clouds, archchancellor'

'There's a hell of a lot of them!' There were They piled up over the tower in an enor black thunderhead A couple of people looked down long enough to see the group of soaked wizards, and there were some cheers And suddenly they were the new centre of attention, and being picked up and carried shoulder high 'They think we did it!' shouted Archchancellor Rincewind, as he was borne aloft 'Who's to say we didn't?' shouted Ridcully, tapping the side of his nose conspiratorially 'Er' soan Ridcully didn't even look round 'Shut up, Mister Stibbons,' he said 'Shutting up, sir'

'Can you hear that thunder?' said Ridcully, as a rumble rolled across the city 'We'd better take cover' The clouds above the toere rising like water against a dam Ponder said afterwards the fact that the BU toas very short and extreht have been the probleo around it, over it and through it, all at the saround the clouds see chiesand pounced One solid blue bolt hit the tower at every height all at once, which is technically iated iron roared into the air and rained down across the city Then there was just a sizzling, and the rushing of the rain The crowd stood up again, cautiously, but the fireworks were over

'And that's e call lightning,' said Ridcully Archchancellor Rincewind got up and tried to brush mud off his robe, then found out why you cannot do this 'It's not usually as big as that, though,' Ridcully went on 'Oh Good' There was a clank fro debris where the tower had stood, and a sheet of metal was pushed aside Sloith ures e a hat, which was on fire although the rain was putting out the fla from side to side, they approached the wizards One of them said, 'Ook,' very quietly and fell backwards The other one looked Wearily at the two archchancellors, and saluted This caused a spark to leap froers and burn its ear 'Er, Rincewind,' it said 'And what have you been up to while we've been doing all this hard work, pray?' said Ridcully Rincewind looked around, very slowly Occasional little blue streaks crackled in his beard 'Well, that all sees considered,' he said, and fell full length into a puddle It rained After that, it rained Then it rained sohts over the coast, low on fuel, jockeying for position, and raining Above all, raining Floodwater roared down the rocks and scoured out the ancient muddy waterholes A species of tiny shrimps whose world for thousands of years had been one small hole under a stone were picked up and carried wholesale into a lake that was spreading faster than a man could run There had been fewer than a thousand of them There were a lot more next day Even if the shrimps had been able to count how many, they were far too busy to bother In the new estuaries, rich in sudden silt and unexpected food, a few fish began the experiroves started their stop-

Then it rained some more After that, it rained It was soently by the dock The water around it was red with suspended silt in which a few leaves and twigs floated 'A week or two to NoThingfjord and we're practically home,' said Ridcully 'Practically on the sa long vacation, really,' said the Lecturer in Recent Runes 'Probably the longest ever,' said Ponder 'Did Mrs Whitlow like her stateroo down in the hold,' said the Senior Wrangler loyally 'The bilges, actually,' said Ponder 'The hold's full Of opals, beer, sheep, wool and bananas'

'Where's the Librarian?' said Ridcully 'In the hold, sir'

'Yes, I suppose it was silly of ain'

'I think it , sir He's certainly very lively now' And Rincewind sat on the Luggage, down on the dock So The worst ti on, because that e reason He could be back in the University Library in abooks One dull day after another, with occasional periods of boredo a minute wasted ell, a minute wasted Excitement? That could happen to other people He'd watched thethe ship It was pretty low in the water, because there would be so s the rest of the world wanted Of course, it'd coht, because it was hard to think of any bloody thing it could bloody i in EcksEcksEcksEcks There were even a fewto see the world, and

'Hey, aren't you one of the foreign wizards?' The speaker was a young e knapsack topped by a bedroll He seeroup of sihtly worried expressions 'You can tell, can't you?' said Rincewind 'Eryou wanted so?'

'D'yew think we can buy a cart in this place NoThingfjord?'