Since the
beginning of the world the Night-Wind has been shy and lonely and
unhappy."
It was unanswerable. They understood. Their sense of pity was greatly
touched, their love as well.
"Do pigs really see the wind, as Daddy says?" inquired Maria abruptly,
feeling the conversation beyond her. She merely obeyed the laws of her
nature. But no one answered her; no one even heard the question.
Another sound absorbed their interest and attention. There was a low,
faint tapping on the window-pane. A hush, like church, fell upon
everybody.
And Uncle Felix stood up to his full height suddenly, and opened his
arms wide. He drew a long, deep breath.
"Come in," he said splendidly.
The tapping, however, grew fainter and fainter, till it finally
ceased. Everybody waited expectantly, but it was not repeated. Nothing
happened. Nobody came in. The tapper had retreated.
"It was a twig," whispered Judy, after a pause. "The Virgin Creeper--"
"But it was the wind that shook it," exclaimed Uncle Felix, still
standing and waiting as though he expected something. "The Night-Wind
--Look out!"
A roaring sound over the roof drowned his words; it rose and fell like
laughter, then like crying.
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