Yet I know them and they know me, and talk to me about all sorts of
things. For instance, if I am puzzling over anything they will explain
it quite clearly, but afterwards I always forget the explanation and
am no wiser than I was before. A hand holding a cloth seems to wipe it
out of my mind, just as one cleans a slate."

"Is that all?"

"Not quite. Occasionally I meet the people afterwards. For instance,
Thomas Sims, the cabman, was one of them, and," he added colouring,
"forgive me for saying so, but you are another. I knew it at once, the
moment I saw you, and that is what made me feel so friendly."

"How very odd!" she exclaimed, "and how delightful. Because, you see--
well never mind----"

He looked at her expectantly, but as she said no more, went on.

"Then now and again I see places before I really do see them. For
example, I think that presently we shall pass along a hillside with
great mountain slopes above and below us covered with dark trees.
Opposite to us also, running up to three peaks with a patch of snow on
the centre peak, but not quite at the top." He closed his eyes, and
added, "Yes, and there is a village at the bottom of the valley by a
swift-running stream, and in it a small white church with a spire and
a gilt weathercock with a bird on it. Then," he continued rapidly, "I
can see the house where I am going to live, with the Pasteur Boiset,
an old white house with woods above and all about it, and the
beautiful lake beneath, and beyond, a great mountain. There is a tree
in the garden opposite the front door, like a big cherry tree, only