Then, as he always did, when something unusual occurred to him,
he thought of "Mr. Jack." At this point, when you ask him what happened,
he always says: "Oh! He came, you know--came walking along--like he
always did."
"Was he just like other people, Bim?"
"Yes, just. With a beard, you know--just like he always was."
"Yes, but what sort of things did he wear?" "Oh, just ord'nary things,
like you." There was no sense of excitement or wonder to be got out of
him. It was true that Mr. Jack hadn't shown himself for quite a long
time, but that, Bim felt, was natural enough. "He'll come less and
seldomer and seldomer as you get big, you know. It was just at first,
when one was very little and didn't know one's way about--just to help
babies not to be frightened. Timothy would tell you only he won't. Then
he comes only a little--just at special times like this was."
Bim told you this with a slightly bored air, as though it were silly of
you not to know, and really his air of certainty made an incredulous
challenge a difficult thing. On the present occasion Mr. Jack was just
there, in the middle of the crowd, smiling and friendly.
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