He tried to do so. He told her how the day before, when he was quite well and so very happy, his thoughts had somehow wandered to people whose lives were very different from his, and how this morning these thoughts had come back again, the same yet different.
"Chrissie," he said, "I don't think I could bear it if I was never to get well again."
It was very hard for the little sister to keep her self-control. If Mrs. Ross had known how Ferdy was going to talk to Chrissie, very probably she would not have told her all she had done. But Chrissie seemed to have grown years older in a few hours.
"And yet there must be lots of people who do bear it—just what you were saying yourself," said Chrissie thoughtfully. "I suppose they get accustomed to it."
"I think it must be more than getting accustomed to make them really seem happy," said Ferdy. "P'r'aps it's something to do with not being selfish."
"Yes," said Chrissie, "I'm sure it has. You see they'd know that if they always seemed unhappy it would make their friends unhappy too. And then—"
"What?" said Ferdy.
"I was only thinking that mamma says people can always do something for other people. And that makes you happier yourself than anything, you know, Ferdy."
Ferdy lay still, thinking.