There's nobody to ask questions of." "Well, there's somebody else in your house who's lonely." "Is there ?" She couldn't think of any one.
"Yes.

Your father." "Oh! Father----" She was uninterested.
"Yes.

You see, if he isn't----" and then, at that, he was gone, she was alone and fast asleep.
In the morning when she awoke, she remembered it all quite clearly, but, of course, it had all been a dream.

"Such a funny dream," she told her nurse, but she would give out no details.
"Some food she's been eating," said her nurse.
Nevertheless, when, on that afternoon, coming in from her walk, she met her dark, grubby little father in the hall, she did stay for a moment on the bottom step of the stairs to consider him.
"I've been for a walk, daddy," she said, and then, rather frightened at her boldness, tumbled up on the next step.

He went forward to catch her.
"Hold up," he said, held her for a moment, and then hurried, confused and rather agitated, into his dark sanctum.