"Goblins?" He still looked doubtful, and I went into detail.
"Horns?" I asked.
He nodded, and shook convulsively.
"Big mouth, with teeth?"
"Yes, and hair—long hair. And dirty, oh, so dirty."
"Did it have hands, or were they all feet?" I asked, enjoying the joke immensely; for in my babyhood I had felt these fears and seen these things.
"Claws," he answered, "like the cat, only bigger, and all bluggy—all bluggy."
"Tell us more, Freddie," I went on. "I couldn't see him very well, in that dark corner."
"He looked at me," answered Freddie, shivering in his mother's arms, "and he opened his eyes, until they were all white, and he opened his mouth, until it was all teeth. And he wanted to bite me. I knew he wanted to bite me."
"Did he have horns, Freddie?" I persisted.