"
"I have seen it, I tell you," said George.
Jimmy spat on the asphalt rudely.
"I bet no one else has," he said.
George looked round his audience, but their eyes did not meet his.
They felt that they might have been mistaken in believing that
they had seen the tail of the fish. And Jimmy was a very good man with
his fists. "Liar!" said Jimmy at last triumphantly, and walked away.
Being masterful, he led the others with him, and George brooded by the
tank for the rest of the evening in solitude.
Next day George went up to Jimmy confidently. "I was right about the
fish," he said. "I dreamed about it last night."
"Rot!" said Jimmy; "dreams are only made-up things; they don't mean
anything."
George crept away sadly. How could he convince such a man? All day
long he worried over the problem, and he woke up in the middle of the
night with it throbbing in his brain. And suddenly, as he lay in his
bed, doubt came to him. Supposing he had been wrong, supposing he had
never seen the fish at all? This was not to be borne. He crept quietly
out of the flat, and tiptoed upstairs to the roof. The stone was very
cold to his feet.
There were so many things in the tank that at first, George could not
see the fish, but at last he saw it gleaming below the moon and the
stars, larger and even more beautiful than he had said. "I knew I
was right," he whispered, as he crept back to bed. In the morning he
was very ill.
Meanwhile blue day succeeded blue day, and while the water grew lower
in the tank, the children, with Jimmy for leader, had almost forgotten
the boy who had told them stories.
Pages:
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186