Emily's wash had been left out to dry during the night. The wind had torn
various articles from the line and carried them down in the direction of
the lane fence.
My gymnastic-performing imp vanished through the bars. In an incredibly
short space of time he reappeared, clothed--but, alas! I cannot tell how
the imp was clothed, except to say that Emily being a tall, woman and the
imp but a well-grown boy of ten, the effect was strangely voluminous and
oriental.
This part of the lane was marked by some insignificant though very abrupt
depressions and elevations of the surface. Occasionally he of the
floating apparel was lost to sight; then he would appear all glorious on
some small height, while the mind was compelled to revert irreverently to
the picture of Moses on Mount Pisgah. He was the personification of
impudence, withal, looking back and showing his teeth in superlative
appreciation of his own sinfulness. He descended, and I looked to see him
arise again, but I saw him no more.
I had a faint and fleeting vision, afterwards, of an apostolic figure
flying back across the fields. It was so indistinct as to remain only
among the ephemera of my fancy.
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