“And so you shall, darling,” said Tom.
“I’m glad of that,” was the satisfied reply. “Now go on with the—the—fairy story, Tom.”
“Then once upon a time——”
And here Tom stopped. How was he going to describe that dreadful prison without telling her all about it? His pride forbade that.
“Well, once upon a time,” answered Nellie impatiently.
“There was once a beautiful island——”
And again Tom paused.
“Oh, I remember it,” cried Nellie. “It was all ivy windows, with shutters, iron shutters, and—and——” Here she rubbed her forehead and added: “A great stone wall all about it; is that what the castle was, Tom?”
Biddy had ventured back. By the terrible expression upon Tom’s face she feared he would tell the whole story.
“That’s it, darling, that’s it. I remember the castle myself.”