"_I_ can--ever so farther. D'you know French and German?"

"Not a word."

"Play the piano?"

"Never heard of it. D'you play it with cards or dice?"

"Lucky dog! It's music. I have to practise an hour a day."

"What for?"

"Nothing ... it's lessons. Beastly. How old are you?"

"Seven--er--nearly."

"So'm I--nearly. I've got to be six first though. I shall have a
birthday next week. A big one. Have you brought any ellyfunts from
India?"

"I've never seen a nellyfunt--only in pictures."

A shudder shook the boy's sturdy frame.

"Why do you go like that? Feel sick?"

"No. I don't know. I seemed to remember something--in a book. I dream
about it. There's a nasty blue room with a mud floor. And _Something_.
Beastly. Makes you yell out and you can't. You can't run away either.