ittle like a professor of legerdemain. David was sitting
up, and he immediately fixed his eyes on me.

It would ill become me to attempt to describe this dear boy to you,
for of course I know really nothing about children, so I shall say only
this, that I thought him very like what Timothy would have been had he
ever had a chance.

I to whom David had been brought for judgment, now found myself being
judged by him, and this rearrangement of the pieces seemed so natural
that I felt no surprise; I felt only a humble craving to hear him
signify that I would do. I have stood up before other keen judges and
deceived them all, but I made no effort to deceive David; I wanted to,
but dared not. Those unblinking eyes were too new to the world to be
hooded by any of its tricks. In them I saw my true self. They opened for
me that pedler's pack of which I have made so much ado, and I found
that it was weighted less with pretty little sad love-tokens than with
ignoble thoughts and deeds and an unguided life. I looked dejectedly at
David, not so much, I think, because I had such a sorry display for him,
as because I feared he would not have me in his service. I seemed to
know that he was making up his mind once and for all.

And in the end he smiled, perhaps only because I looked so frightened,
but the reason scarcely mattered to me, I felt myself a fine fellow at
once. It was a long smile, too, opening slowly to its fullest extent (as
if to let me in), and then as slowly shutting.

Then, to divert me from sad thoughts, or to rivet our friendship, or
because the time had come for each of us to show the other what he could
do, he immediately held one foot high in the air. This made him slide
down the perambulator, and I saw at once that it was very necessary to
replace him. But never before had I come into such close contact with
a child; the most I had ever done was, when they were held up to me, to
shut my eyes and kiss a vacuum. David, of course, though no doubt he
was eternally being replaced, could tell as little as myself how it
was contrived, and yet we managed it between us quite easily. His
body instinctively assumed a certain position as I touched him, which
compelled my arms to fall into place, and the thing was done. I felt
absurdly pleased, but he was already considering what he should do next.

He again held up his foot, which had a gouty appearance owing to
its being contained in a dumpy little worsted sock, and I t