"Look at Bow, he looks like an owl," said Grace at breakfast.
"What d'y call 'im Bow for?" asked Len.
"Like a girl, with his eyes double size," said Monica.
"You'd better go to sleep, Jack," said Mrs. Ellis.
"Take a nap, lad," said Mr. Ellis. "There's nothin' for y' to do this morning."
Jack was going stupefied again, as the sun grew warm. He didn't hear half that was said. But the girls were very attentive to him. Mary was not there: she was sitting with Herbert. But Monica and Grace waited on him as if he had been their lord. It was a new experience for him: Monica jumping up and whipping away his cup with her slim hand, to bring it back filled, and Grace insisting on opening a special jar of jam for him. Drowsy as he was, their attention made his blood stir. It was so new to him.
Mary came in from the sitting room: they were still in the kitchen.
"Herbert is awake," she said. "He wants to be untied. Bow, do you think he ought to?"
Jack rose in silence and went through to Gran's room. Herbert lay quite still, but he was himself. Only shattered and wordless. He looked at Jack and murmured:
"Can't y' untie me?"