th you, you are
afraid. Grandmother has gone to bed, I think, and there will be a
little fire left on the hearth."

Highboy brightened a little.

"Do you think we dare?" he said, "Suppose we should meet the cat."

"I'm not afraid of the cat," Hortense declared.

"And then there's the other one," said Highboy. "He's worse still. He's
round, and bright, and hard, with sharp points all over--a terrible
fellow."

"Is he the 'ha'nt,' as Aunt Esmerelda calls it?" Hortense asked.

Highboy knew nothing about that. He was only sure that the cat,
Jeremiah, and his prickly companion were up to all manner of tricks and
were best let alone.

Hortense, on second thought, did not wholly relish the idea of going
downstairs with Highboy, but she had made the offer and so she said,
"Come on, we'll go now, for I mustn't stay up too late."

Highboy stepped out of his wooden house. He looked so funny in his knee
trousers and broad white collar with its big bow tie, exactly like a
great overgrown boy, that Hortense laughed out loud.

"If you laugh at me, I won't go," said Highboy in a mournful voice.

"I beg your pardon," said Hortense. "It was rude of me. But you should
wear long trousers you know! You are too big to wear such things as
these."

"I know it," said Highboy, "but I can't change. I haven't any others.
Besides, I've always worn them and I'd not feel the same in anything
different. One gets awfully attached to old clothes, don't you think?"

"Boys do, I've observed," said Hortense. "Come on."

She took Highboy by the hand, and they walked cautiously down the hall.
At the top of the stairs Highboy paused and leaned over the bannisters.
Somebody was walking to and fro in the hall beneath with soft regular
footfalls like the ticking of a clock.

"It's only Grandfather's Clock," said Highboy in a relieved whisper.
"He always walks that way at night."

Highboy and Hortense descended the stairs into the hall. Grandfather's
Clock was walking up and down with regular footfalls, tick-tock,
tick-tock. He smiled benevolently at them as they passed but did not
pause in his walk or speak to them.

"A dull life," said Highboy. "Duller than mine. You see, he has nothing
to be afraid of. To be afraid of something gives you a thrill, you
know. But everybody's afraid of time, and Grandfather's Clock has all
the time there is."

When Hortense and Highboy entered, only the embers of the fire were
left on the hearth in Grandmoth