Sir Everard was more puzzled than ever, having thought that they had come to an end of the discussion.
"I really don't know, my boy!"
"If you'd got a sound of many waters in your head, father, you'd like to hear what it means! Oh, where did I hear all about it? Where have I been? Who was near me? You were there, father, I know, for I remember your face; and all the while somebody was telling us what the rushing and singing in my head means!"
Sir Everard thought the boy was wandering, and did not try to answer him any more. He was accustomed to sit for hours by the bedside, while Humphrey rambled incoherently on. It was no use trying to follow the poor little brain through the mazes of thought into which it now plunged.
Presently Humphrey startled him by saying—
"What does Charlie mean?"
"Well, nothing particular, darling."
"But it does, it does," said the child. "Does it mean the same thing as a sound of many waters?"
"Yes, yes," said his father, still thinking he was wandering.