The Constable spent a lot of time reading books. Nell was welcome to be in 
his house when he was doing this, as long as she was quiet. Frequently he would 
shoo her out, and then he would get in touch with some old friend of his over 
the big mediatron on the wall of his library. Usually Nell would just go back 
to her little cottage during these times, but sometimes, especially if the moon 
was full, she would wander around in the garden. This seemed larger than it 
really was by virtue of being divided into many small compartments. On late 
full-moon nights, her favorite place was a grove of tall green bamboo with some 
pretty rocks strewn around. She would sit with her back against a rock,
read her Primer, and occasionally hear sound emanating from the inside of 
Constable Moore's house as he talked on the mediatron: mostly deep bellowing 
laughter and explosions of good-natured profanity. For quite some time she 
assumed that it was not the Constable who was making these sounds, but rather 
whomever he was talking to; because in her presence the Constable was always 
very polite and reserved, albeit somewhat eccentric. But one night she heard 
loud moaning noises coming from his house, and crept down out of the bamboo 
grove to see what was happening.