whitish, almost luminous thing in front of him, stirring
restlessly with a faint hissing sound, looked and acted the part of a
ghost to perfection. But the idea was rejected before it had taken clear
shape and without any reasoning, instinctively, automatically. His
father always became scornful at the mere mention of ghosts, and that
settled it.

When it was all over, and he was safe within the kitchen door once more,
he told no one what had happened. He thought that, in spite of his
initial scare, he had acted decidedly well, and he was eager for
approval, but he was kept from telling by an uneasy feeling that his
father would laugh at him if he did.

XVI

The boy's timidity took quite different forms. One day the whole family
was astir. His parents had in some way obtained tickets to that
evening's performance at the Royal Opera. As the custom of the place was
to permit the holders of two adjoining seats to bring in a child with
them, it was decided after much discussion that Keith might go along.
His mother tried to explain the nature and purpose of a theatrical
performance, but what she said made no impression on the boy, who was
more excited by the thought of accompanying his parents than by what he
might hear or see.

Their seats were in a box in the third tier. It was like being suspended
halfway between the top and the bottom of a gigantic well. The depth of
that well affected the boy unpleasantly, while the strong light and the
hum of talk confused him. He clung closely to his mother with averted
face. Suddenly the light went out, and he heard his mother whisper:

"Look now!"

Glancing up, he found that a new room full of people had appeared where
before was nothing but a flat wall.

"What became of the wall, mamma," he asked aloud. She hushed him with a
smile, and he heard some one in another box titter.

"Now keep very quiet and try to follow what happens on the stage," his
mother admonished in another whisper.

They were giving Auber's "Crown Diamonds." The rich dresses appealed
somewhat to him, but not strongly. The music made no impression on him
whatsoever. The general effect on his mind was one of bewilderment, that
soon lapsed into bored indifference. Then he discovered that most of the
men on the stage were armed, and that some of them acted as if they
might put their weapons into use at any moment. And he, the ardent
participant in all the bloody deeds of Siegfried and Dietrich and
K