he wind
Singing of freedom we may never find,
Victims of fate so cruelly unkind,
We are unblest.

We hear the little footsteps in the rain
Running to help us, though they run in vain,
Tapping in hundreds on the window-pane
In vain behest.

We are the children of the whispering night,
Who dwell unrescued in eternal fright
Of stories told us in the dim twilight
By--_nurserymaids_!"

The plaintive song and the dance ceased together, and before Jimbo could
find any words to clothe even one of the thoughts that crowded through
his mind, he saw them moving towards a door he had not hitherto noticed
on the other side of the room. A moment later they had opened it and
passed out, sedate, mournful, unhurried; and the boy found that in some
way he could not understand the light had gone with them, and he was
standing with his back against the wall in almost total darkness.

Once out of the room, no sound followed them, and he crossed over and
tried the handle of the door. It was locked. Then he went back and tried
the other door; that, too, was locked. He was shut in. There was no
longer any doubt as to the Figure's intentions; he was a prisoner,
trapped like an animal in a cage.

The only thought in his mind just then was an intense desire for
freedom. Whatever happened he must escape. He crossed the floor to the
only window in the room; it was without blinds, and he looked out. But
instantly he recoiled with a fresh and overpowering sense of
helplessness, for it was three storeys from the ground, and down below
in the shadows he saw a paved courtyard that rendered jumping utterly
out of the question.

He stood for a long time, fighting down the tears, and staring as if his
heart would break at the field and trees beyond. A high wall enclosed
the yard, but beyond that was freedom and open space. Feelings of
loneliness and helplessness, terror and dismay overwhelmed him. His eyes
burned and smarted, yet, strange to say, the tears now refused to come
and bring him relief. He could only stand there with his elbows on the
window-sill, and watch the outline of the trees and hedges grow clearer
and clearer as the light drew across the sky, and the moment of sunrise
came close.

But when at last he turned back into the room, he saw that he was no
longer alone. Crouching against the opposite wall there was a