I insist on your telling me how it was you happened to get out of bed just before the accident occurred, and how the bedclothes came to be pulled away and hung where they are now.

There's a mystery about the whole thing, and I hate mysteries, so you'd better make a clean breast of it at once." "Had I ?" said Austin, pretending to reflect.

"I wonder whether it would be wise.

You see, dear auntie, you're such a sensitive creature; your nerves are so highly strung, you're so easily frightened out of your dear old wits--" "Be done with all this nonsense!" snapped Aunt Charlotte brusquely.
"Come, I can't stand here all day.

Just tell me exactly what took place--why you woke up, and what you saw, and everything about it you remember." "Dear auntie, I don't want you to stand there all day; in fact I'd much rather you didn't stand there a minute longer, because I want to get up," Austin assured her earnestly.