"I will go with you," she replied resolutely.
The gods were with us. The door leading to the cellars was not locked.
I opened it, passed the girl before me, and closed the door.
"I am frightened!" she whispered.
"So am I," I offered, to reassure her. "You are not afraid of rats,
are you?"
"No-o!"
"Bully!" I cried. Then I laughed.
"How can you laugh? It is horrible!" she protested.
"You would come, though I heard your uncle warn you. Look at it the
way I do. It's a huge joke, and years from now you'll have great fun
telling it to your grandchildren."
"I wish, at this moment, I could see so far ahead--What was
that?"--seizing my arm.
Click!
Somebody had locked the door behind us!