“I should think you’d be as glad as anything, now that you can see,” said Sam.
Billy’s mother, who had seen the meeting between the two children, thought it time to explain matters to Sam.
“You see, Sam,” she said, “everything is so new to Billy that he must become accustomed to seeing.”
“He always used to know me just as soon as I came,” replied Sam, “and now he acts as if he didn’t know me at all.”
“He knew you by your step and your voice,” replied Billy’s mother, “but he didn’t know how you really looked before. His mind made a picture of you, but it was so different from the real you that he must get used to the new one.”
Sam understood now why Billy had looked at him as if he did not know him. “Of course he didn’t know me, because he had never seen me before,” he said. “I wonder what sort of a looking fellow he thought I was. What color did you think my eyes were, Billy?”
“I don’t know what seeing people call it,” replied Billy.
“You see, he will have to learn the names of the colors and a great many other things, too,” explained Billy’s mother.
“I should think he would know them,” said Sam. “Anne is only four years old, and she has known them ever so long.”