laurence thought himself well used to the company of dragons by now , and he had not minded the streets of peking , or the pavilions where the great beasts slept in vast coiled heaps ; but in the near-absence of light , the persistent low churning noise magnified , and he yet could not wholly repress the shudder which climbed his back as they walked from one stand of trees to another , crossing the meadows where the dragons slept .