Profound silence.
We three, still sitting round the blank the vanished table had left, looked at each other, our eyes inquiring mutely, 'Is it I?'
But I knew it was me.
'Do you mean me, Uncle Rudolph?' I therefore asked; for after all it had best be got over quickly.
'Yes, dear child.'
'Now?'
'If you will.'
'There's no esc—you don't think the weather too horrid?'
'Bracing.'
I sighed, and went away to put on my nailed boots.