“Well, I think he does,” she answered. “You see, it's the 'house-warming,' as he calls it, and he said he thinks all our chuldern ought to be around us, as well as the old friends and other folks. It's just what he thinks you need—to take an interest and liven up. You don't feel too bad to come down, do you?”
“Mother?”
“Well?”
“Take a good look at me,” he said.
“Oh, see here!” she cried, with brusque cheerfulness. “You're not so bad off as you think you are, Bibbs. You're on the mend; and it won't do you any harm to please your—”
“It isn't that,” he interrupted. “Honestly, I'm only afraid it might spoil somebody's appetite. Edith—”
“I told you the child was too sensitive,” she interrupted, in turn. “You're a plenty good-lookin' enough young man for anybody! You look like you been through a long spell and begun to get well, and that's all there is to it.”
“All right. I'll come to the party. If the rest of you can stand it, I can!”
“It 'll do you good,” she returned, rustling into the hall. “Now take a nap, and I'll send one o' the help to wake you in time for you to get dressed up before dinner. You go to sleep right away, now, Bibbs!”
Bibbs was unable to obey, though he kept his eyes closed. Something she had said kept running in his mind, repeating itself over and over interminably. “His plans for you—his plans for you—his plans for you—his plans for you—” And then, taking the place of “his plans for you,” after what seemed a long, long while, her flurried voice came back to him insistently, seeming to whisper in his ear: “He loves his chuldern—he loves his chuldern—he loves his chuldern”—“you'll find he's always right—you'll find he's always right—” Until at last, as he drifted into the state of half-dreams and distorted realities, the voice seemed to murmur from beyond a great black wing that came out of the wall and stretched over his bed—it was a black wing within the room, and at the same time it was a black cloud crossing the sky, bridging the whole earth from pole to pole. It was a cloud of black smoke, and out of the heart of it came a flurried voice whispering over and over, “His plans for you—his plans for you—his plans for you—” And then there was nothing.