"You're a very mysterious person, are you not?"
"Not more mysterious than you, I should say. Is there anything more mysterious than one of you children?"
"Oh, but that's a different kind of mysterious: we don't pretend to be mysterious: you do!"
"Oh, do I! You seem to know more about me than I know about myself. When you have lived longer, you may not feel so certain about understanding other people. But then I'm not people," he added joyously, and they heard him push his way further back under the boughs of the Tree—withdrawing more deeply into its mystery.
"Now then, while I wait, what shall we do?"
IV
TIME-SPIRIT AND ETERNAL SPIRIT
A hurried whispering began among the children, and the result was quickly announced:—