"It's a lovely morning," continued Judy politely, smiling at the empty
place. "Will you have tea and coffee, or milkhotwaterandsugar?" She
listened attentively for the answer, the smile of a duchess on her
rosy face, then bowed and handed a lump of sugar to Tim, who set it
carefully in the middle of the plate.
"Butter or honey?" inquired the boy, "or butter and honey?" He, too,
waited for the inaudible reply, then asked his Uncle to pass the pot
of honey _and_ the butter-dish. The Stranger, apparently, liked sweet
things best--at any rate, natural things.
They went on with their breakfast then, eating as much as ever they
could hold, talking about everything in the world as usual, and
occasionally bowing to the empty chair, addressing remarks to it, and
listening to--answers! Sometimes they passed things, too--another lump
of sugar, more drops of honey, a thick blob of clotted cream as well.
It was obvious to them that somebody occupied that chair, so real,
indeed, that Uncle Felix found himself passing things and making
observations about the weather and even arranging a few crumbs of
bread in a row beside the other delicacies.
Pages:
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293