Some
one's about in the grounds, perhaps...!"
It was very exciting to be awake at such an unearthly hour; the sun
was still below the edge of the gigantic earth! A great, slow thrill
stole up into his heart. He noticed the streaks of colour in the sky,
and felt the chilly wind. "It's sunrise!" he exclaimed, rubbing one
naked foot against the other; "that's what it is. And I'm up to see
it!"
The thrill merged into a deep, huge sense of wonder that enthralled
him. At the same moment the swallows, disturbed by his voice, looked
up with one accord, then rose in a single sweep and whirled off into
the upper air, wings faintly tinged with gold. They scattered. Tim
watched them for a little while, dimly aware that he watched something
"perfectly magnificent." His eyes followed one bird after another,
caught in a sudden little rapture he could not understand... then
turned and saw his bed, flushed with early pink, across the room. With
a running jump he landed among the sheets, rolled himself up into a
ball, and promptly fell asleep again. It was not yet four o'clock.
Across the landing, meanwhile, Judy, wakened by a brush of feathery
wind, was at her window too.
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