The clergyman looked round; one of the children was trembling. “What have you done to this book, little one?”
“That book?—the—hi!—hi!—”
“Speak the truth, and you sha’n’t be punished.”
“I did not know it was any harm—hi!—hi!—”
“Well, and—”
“And old Ben helped us.”
“Well?”
“And—and—and—hi!—hi!—The tail of the kite, sir!—”
“Where is the kite?”
Alas! the kite and its tail were long ago gone to that undiscovered limbo where all things lost, broken, vanished, and destroyed; things that lose themselves—for servants are too honest to steal; things that break themselves—for servants are too careful to break; find an everlasting and impenetrable refuge.