She said it was a knife.
“No, my dear, it was not so.”
“My aunt Polly said it was a knife.”
“Why, Aunt Polly’s knife may do, but it was a dagger, my dear.”
He then asked her the meaning of “bane and antidote,” which she was unable to give. Mrs. Gastrel said—
“You cannot expect so young a child to know the meaning of such words.”
He then said—
“My dear, how many pence are there in sixpence?”
“I cannot tell, sir,” was the half-terrified reply.
On this, addressing himself to Mrs. Gastrel, he said—