Published by Good Press, 2019

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      EAN 4064066230883

Table of Contents

       CHAPTER I

       CHAPTER II

       CHAPTER III

       CHAPTER IV

       CHAPTER V

       CHAPTER VI

       CHAPTER VII

       CHAPTER VIII

       CHAPTER IX

       CHAPTER X

       CHAPTER XI

       CHAPTER XII

       CHAPTER XIII

       CHAPTER XIV

       CHAPTER XV

       CHAPTER XVI

       CHAPTER XVII

       THE EXTRA DAY

       THE STRANGER WHO IS WONDER

       HIDE-AND-SEEK

       THE LEADER

       THE COMMON SIGNS

       COME-BACK STUMPER'S SIGN

       WEEDEN'S SIGN

       AUNT EMILY FINDS—HERSELF

       SIGNS EVERYWHERE!

       REALITY

       CHAPTER XVIII

       CHAPTER XIX

       CHAPTER XX

      CHAPTER

      I THE MATERIAL

      II FANCY—SEED OF WONDER

      III DEATH OF A MERE FACT

      IV FACT—EDGED WITH FANCY

      V THE BIRTH OF WONDER

      VI THE GROWTH OF WONDER

      VII IMAGINATION WAKES

      VIII WHERE WONDER HIDES

      IX A PRIEST OF WONDER

      X FACT AND WONDER—CLASH

      XI JUDY'S PARTICULAR ADVENTURE

      XII TIM'S PARTICULAR ADVENTURE

      XIII TIME HESITATES

      XIV MARIA STIRS

      XV "A DAY WILL COME"

      XVI TIME HALTS

      XVII A DAY HAS COME

      XVIII TIME GOES ON AGAIN—

      XIX—AS USUAL

      XX—BUT DIFFERENTLY!

      CHAPTER I

       Table of Contents

      THE MATERIAL

      Judy, Tim, and Maria were just little children. It was impossible to say exactly what their ages were, except that they were just the usual age, that Judy was the eldest, Maria the youngest, and that Tim, accordingly, came in between the two.

      Their father did his best for them; so did their mother; so did Aunt Emily, the latter's sister. It is impossible to say very much about these three either, except that they were just Father, Mother, and Aunt Emily. They were the Authorities-in-Chief, and they knew respectively everything there was to be known about such remote and difficult subjects as London and Money; Food, Health and Clothing; Conduct, Behaviour and Regulations, both general and particular. Into these three departments of activity the children, without realising that they did so, classed them neatly. Aunt Emily, besides the special duties assigned to her, was a living embodiment of No. While Father allowed and permitted, while Mother wobbled and hesitated, Aunt Emily shook her head with decision, and said distinctly No. She was too full of warnings, advice, and admonitions to get about much. She wore gold glasses, and had an elastic, pointed nose. From the children's point of view she must be classed as invalid. Somewhere, deep down inside them, they felt pity.

      The trio loved them according to their just deserts; they grasped that the Authorities did their best for them. This "best," moreover, was done in different ways. Father did it with love and tenderness, that is, he spoilt them; Mother with tenderness and love, that is, she felt them part of herself and did not like to hurt herself; Aunt Emily with affectionate and worthy desire to see them improve, that is, she trained them. Therefore they adored their father, loved their mother, and thought highly—from a distance preferably—of their aunt.

      This was the outward and visible household that an ordinary person, say, a visitor who came to lunch on Sunday after church, would have noticed. It was the upper layer; but there was an under layer too. There was Thompson, the old pompous family butler; they trusted him because he was silent and rarely smiled, winked at their mischief, pretended not to see them when he caught them in his pantry, and never once betrayed them. There was Mrs. Horton,