"Uncle, you should stop thinking of such things and enjoy your walk and the air and the woods and the dunes and the clouds . . ."
"Yes, that's what you say: stop thinking . . . and enjoy . . . and enjoy . . ."
"Yes, enjoy nature around you . . ."
"Nature? . . ."
His restless black eyes encountered Addie's clear glance. And suddenly he stopped and said:
"Tell me, do they leave them alone, in my rooms on the Nieuwe Uitleg?"
"Uncle, there's nothing there; and all your books and china are well taken care of. . . ."
"Is there nothing there?"
"No, Uncle, not what you think."
"And in the doctor's house?"
"There's nothing there either, Uncle."
"Here, round about us?"
"There's nothing, Uncle."
"Then what I hear . . ."
"Is an hallucination, Uncle."
"What I see . . ."
"That too."
"Why do you say that?"
"Because it's the truth, Uncle."
"How do you know what is the truth?"
"Through my senses, Uncle. Through my reason."
"Are they healthy? Are they infallible?"
