"Why have they nothing to say?"
This time, the little big brother lost all patience. He shrugged his shoulders, gave Mytyl a push and shouted angrily:
"You're a nuisance!..."
Mytyl was greatly upset and confused. She sucked her thumb and resolved to hold her tongue for ever after, as she had been so badly treated! But a breath of wind made the leaves of the trees whisper and suddenly recalled the Children to their fears and their sense of loneliness. They hugged each other tight and began to talk again, so as not to hear the horrible silence:
"When will you turn the diamond?" asked Mytyl.
"You heard Light say that I was to wait until midnight, because that disturbs them less; it is when they come out to take the air...."
"Isn't it midnight yet...."
Tyltyl turned round, saw the church clock and hardly had the strength to answer, for the hands were just upon the hour:
"Listen," he stammered, "listen.... It is just going to strike.... There!... Do you hear?..."
And the clock struck twelve.