'Whatever is the--?' she began; and then things began to impress
themselves on her senses.
The bottle which Nutty had thrown at Eustace had missed the
latter, but it had hit the wall, and was now lying in many pieces
on the floor, and the air was heavy with the scent of it. The
remains seemed to leer at her with a kind of furtive swagger,
after the manner of broken bottles. A quick thrill of anger ran
through Elizabeth. She had always felt more like a mother to Nutty
than a sister, and now she would have liked to exercise the
maternal privilege of slapping him.
'Nutty!'
'I saw a monkey!' said her brother, hollowly. 'I was standing over
there and I saw a monkey! Of course, it wasn't there really. I
flung the bottle at it, and it seemed to climb on to that
wardrobe.'
'This wardrobe?'
'Yes.'
Elizabeth struck it a resounding blow with the palm of her hand,
and Eustace's face popped over the edge, peering down anxiously.
'I can see it now,' said Nutty. A sudden, faint hope came to him.
'Can you see it?' he asked.
Elizabeth did not speak for a moment. This was an unusual
situation, and she was wondering how to treat it. She was sorry
for Nutty, but Providence had sent this thing and it would be
foolish to reject it. She must look on herself in the light of a
doctor.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163