17 Rescue in Minusland
T don't like it here at all,' Charlie whispered. 'It gives me thewillies.'
'Me, too,' Mr Wonka whispered back. 'But we've got a job todo, Charlie, and we must go through with it.'
The mist was condensing now on the glass walls of theElevator making it difficult to see out except through the opendoors.
'Do any other creatures live here, Mr Wonka?'
'Plenty of Gnoolies.'
'Are they dangerous?'
'If they bite you, they are. You're a gonner, my boy, if you'rebitten by a Gnooly.'
The Elevator drifted on, rocking gently from side to side. Thegrey-black oily fog swirled¹ around them.
'What does a Gnooly look like, Mr Wonka?' 'They don't looklike anything, Charlie. They can't.' 'You mean you've never seenone?'
'You can't see Gnoolies, my boy. You can't even feel them …until they puncture² your skin … then it's too late. They've gotyou.'
'You mean … there might be swarms³ of them all around usthis very moment?' Charlie asked.
'There might,' said Mr Wonka.
Charlie felt his skin beginning to creep. 'Do you die at once?'
he asked.
'First you become subtracted … a little later you are divided …but very slowly … it takes a long time … it's long division andit's very painful. After that, you become one of them.'
'Couldn't we shut the door?' Charlie asked.
'I'm afraid not, my boy. We'd never see her through the glass.
There's too much mist and moisture. She's not going to beeasy to pick out anyway.'
Charlie stood at the open door of the Elevator and stared intothe swirling⁴ vapours. This, he thought, is what hell must be like… hell without heat … there was something unholy about it all,something unbelievably diabolical⁵ … It was all so deathly quiet,so desolate⁶ and empty … At the same time, the constantmovement, the twisting and swirling of the misty⁷ vapours, gaveone the feeling that some very powerful force, evil andmalignant, was at work all around … Charlie felt a jab on hisarm! He jumped! He almost jumped out of the Elevator!

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