"You say the magic word, the door in the rock opens and you go on, and on, through the vaulted passages--" "Until you come to the ogre," said the boarder, who was standing at the top of the stairs.

He did not behave at all like an ogre, for he was very glad to see us, and so was his wife.

After we had settled down in the parlor and the boarder's wife had gone to see about something concerning the dinner, Euphemia asked after the children.
"I hope they haven't gone to bed," she said, "for I do so want to see the dear little things." The ex-boarder, as Euphemia called him, smiled grimly.
"They're not so very little," he said.

"My wife's son is nearly grown.
He is at an academy in Connecticut, and he expects to go into a civil engineer's office in the spring.

His sister is older than he is.