"But why were they dark?" asks Tommy. "Mammy says they had gas then."
"I didn't mean that, I——" his mother is beginning, but Monkton stops her with a despairing gesture.
"Don't," says he. "It would take a good hour by the slowest clock. Let him believe there was electric light then if he chooses."
"Well, but why can't they change it?" persists Tommy, who is evidently full of the picture in question.
"I have told you."
"But the painter man could change it."
"I am afraid not, Tommy. He is dead."
"Why didn't he do it before he died then? Why didn't somebody show him what to do?"
"I don't fancy he wanted any hints. And besides, he had to be true to his ideal. It was a terrible time. They did really throw the Christians to the lions, you know."
"Of course I know that," says Tommy with a superior air. "But why didn't they cast another one?"