There was, for instance, a gentleman of whom he always
spoke of as Mr. Jack. This friend no one had ever seen, but Bim quoted
him frequently. He did not, apparently, see him very often now, but at
one time when he had been quite a baby Mr. Jack had been always there.
Bim explained, to any one who cared to listen, that Mr. Jack belonged to
all the Other Time which he was now in very serious danger of
forgetting, and when, at that point, he was asked with condescending
indulgence, "I suppose you mean fairies, dear!" he always shook his head
scornfully and said he meant nothing of the kind, Mr. Jack was as real
as mother, and, indeed, a great deal "realer," because Mrs. Rochester
was, in the course of her energetic career, able to devote only
"whirlwind" visits to her "dear, darling" children.
When the afternoon was spent in the gardens in the middle of the Square,
Bim would detach himself from his family and would be found absorbed in
some business of his own which he generally described as "waiting for
Mr. Jack."
"Not the sort of child," said Miss Agg, who had strong views about
children being educated according to practical and common-sense ideas,
"not the sort of child that one would expect nonsense from.
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