open his eyes--were pale as ashes,
and their beady little eyes shone like the facets of cut stones,
flashing in all directions. And while they danced in and out amongst
each other, never breaking the semicircle round the bed, they sang a
low, mournful song that sounded like the wind whispering through a
leafless wood.

And the words stirred in him that vague yet terrible fear known to all
children who have been frightened and made to feel afraid of the dark.
Evidently his sensations were being merged very rapidly now into those
of the little boy in the night-nursery bed.

"There is Someone in the Nursery
Whom we never saw before;
--Why hangs the moon so red?--
And he came not by the passage,
Or the window, or the door;
--Why hangs the moon so red?--
And he stands there in the darkness,
In the centre of the floor.
--See, where the moon hangs red!--

Someone's hiding in the passage
Where the door begins to swing;
--Why drive the clouds so fast?--
In the corner by the staircase
There's a dreadful waiting thing:
--Why drive the clouds so fast?--
Past the curtain creeps a monster
With a black and fluttering wing;
--See, where the clouds drive fast!--

In the chilly dusk of evening;
In the hush before the dawn;
--Why drips the rain so cold?--
In the twilight of the garden,
In the mist upon the lawn,
--Why drips the rain so cold?--
Faces stare, and mouth upon us,
Faces white and weird and drawn;
--See, how the rain drips cold!--

Close beside us in the night-time,
Waiting for us in the gloom,
--O! Why sings the wind so shrill?--
In the shadows by the cupboard,
In the corners of the room,
--O! Why sings the wind so shrill?--
From the corridors and landings
Voices call us to our doom.
--O! how the wind sings shrill!"--

By this time the dreadful dancers had come much closer to him, shifting
stealthily nearer to the bed under cover of their dancing, and always
_between him and the window_.

Suddenly their intention flashed upon him; they meant to prevent his
escape!

With a tremendous effort he sprang from the bed. As he did so a dozen
pairs of thin, shadowy arms shot out towards him as though to seize his
wings; but with an agility born of fright he dodged them, and ran
swiftly into the corner by the mantelpiece. Standing with his back
against the wall he faced the children, and strove to call out