both blinked in utter astonishment , for they had expected a dark corridor filled with dankness , fungi , and all sorts of hideous things crouching among the shadows , or perhaps even instant death or an abandoned and crumbling room , not a snug little library stuffed to overflowing with books with a crackling fire upon the hearth , a smug cat upon the rug , and a birdlike little man with wispy gray hair and half-moon spectacles smiling at them from a faded armchair .