Читать книгу The Complete Works of Algernon Blackwood. Novels, Short Stories, Horror Classics, Occult & Supernatural Tales, Plays онлайн

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'Now you've frightened them all away,' exclaimed the voice that had spoken first.

'Doesn't matter,' replied the other, who evidently spoke with authority; 'Uncle Paul was in before they left. They saw the introduction. That's enough. So now,' it added with decision, 'if you're quite ready we'd better begin.'

Paul grasped by this time that he was the central figure in some secret ceremony of the children, that it was of vital importance to them, as well as a profound compliment to himself. The animals formed part of it so long as they could be persuaded to stay. Their own rituals, however, were so vastly more wonderful and dignified—especially the Ritual of the Cats—that they were somewhat contemptuous, and had escaped at the earliest opportunity. It was, of course, his formal initiation into their world of make-believe and imagination. He stood before them on the floor of this tumbled-down Blue Summer-house in the capacity of the Candidate. Strange chills began to chase one another down his long spine. A shy happiness swept through him and made him shiver. 'Can they possibly guess,' he wondered, 'how far more important this is to me than to them?'