"We never thought of looking _there_," they said reproachfully. Come-
Back Stumper had simply gone to bed.
CHAPTER V
THE BIRTH OF WONDER
Meanwhile their father alone grew neither older nor larger. His
appearance did not change. They could not imagine that he would ever
change. He still went up to London in the morning, he still came down
again, he still continued to grind out stories which they thought
wonderful, and he still, on occasions, said mysteriously, "A day will
come," or its variants, "Some day," and "A day is coming." Yet, though
he had Fancy, he had not Imagination. He did not satisfy them. For
while Fancy may attend the birth of Wonder, Imagination alone
accompanies her growth. Daddy was too full of stationery and sealing-
wax in his daily work to have got very far.
Aunt Emily also still was there, explaining everything and saying No,
shaking her head at them, or holding up a warning finger. Their
outward life, indeed, showed little change, but it included one
important novelty that affected all their present and all their
subsequent existence, too. They made a new friend--their father's
brother.
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