"Oh, but you mustn't be ashamed of that!" the invisible entity told him.
"That's the beginning of real wisdom--becoming childlike again. One of
your religious teachers said something like that, long ago, and a long
time before that, there was a Chinaman whom people called Venerable
Child, because his wisdom had turned back again to a child's
simplicity."
"That was Lao Tze," Colonel Hampton said, a little surprised. "Don't
tell me you've been around that long."
"Oh, but I have! Longer than that; oh, for very long." And yet the voice
he seemed to be hearing was the voice of a young girl. "You don't mind
my coming to talk to you?" it continued. "I get so lonely, so dreadfully
lonely, you see."
"Urmh! So do I," Colonel Hampton admitted. "I'm probably going bats, but
what the hell? It's a nice way to go bats, I'll say that.... Stick
around; whoever you are, and let's get acquainted. I sort of like you."
A feeling of warmth suffused him, as though he had been hugged by
someone young and happy and loving.
"Oh, I'm glad.
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