"Cecil," he continued, "beg thy mother to heed the petition of a guest and let thee sit here by me for ten little minutes; I will bid thee eat nuts,—so shalt thou practise Father Mohl's precepts of obedience."
Elinor smiled, Neville put out his hand, a strong, nervous hand, and Cecil knew his cause was won.
"Lonely upstairs," he confided to Neville as he helped himself to nuts; "makes me think of bears."
"Bears come not into houses."
"They say not, but the dark looks like a big black one, big enough to swallow house and all. I do not like the dark, do you?"
"I did not when I was your age,—that's sure; but I have seen so many worse things since then—"
"What?"
"Myself, for instance."
"That's silly."