The Elder's words came to him in a strange way.

Had he heard all this before?
If so, it had been in some long-forgotten past; and this man's discourse only awakened a faint remembrance as of a distant bell tolling across the hills.

Away back in his youth, he must have heard something like this; or was it an echo of some pre-existent world--he had heard of such things before.

Perhaps it was the man's tone of voice, his mannerism that recalled, in some way, some past impression.
The Elder stopped.

Lucy touched her father's arm.
"Father," she said, "I believe you are cold.