human
Now tell me all about it, he said, sitting down at his desk to face her. Sarah, he knew, had a horror of being
gpt
I emptied the can every night, after Jack went to bed, said Sarah.
human
That's all. He doesn't care how much he hurts them, but I do.
gpt
But how could you stay awake from eight till ten o'clock? asked the doctor curiously,
human
I didn't go to bed, that is not really, confided Sarah.
gpt
I lay down with all my clothes on, because Rosemary always comes in to see that our light is out before she goes to bed. But after nine o'clock I stayed up till I saw Jack shut the kitchen door of his house and then I knew he was through digging worms.
human
Didn't you ever go to sleep before Rosemary came in to look at you? asked her brother.
gpt
Not once?
human
Not once, said Sarah firmly.
gpt
I put three of Shirley's building blocks under my back so I couldn't. And when I got up I sat on the window sill so if I went to sleep I'd wake up when I fell out.
human
Well you are thorough, admitted the doctor.
gpt
Weren't you afraid Aunt Trudy would come in and find you sitting up? Or hear you falling out of the window?
human
I didn't fall, declared Sarah, matter-of-factly.
gpt
And Aunt Trudy never comes to see if we are in bed. Mother used to, every night.
human
I see, the doctor frowned a little.
gpt
Well, Sarah, you'll have to let Jack's worms alone after this. I'm not going to argue with you about the feelings of the worms or the fish (you'll get that point better when you are a little older) but I'll put it to you this way; they're Jack's worms and you mustn't touch what belongs to him. And, also, you can't go about making people think as you do. If you don't believe in fishing, all right; you are at perfect liberty not to fish. But you have no call to try to stop other people from fishing. Jack may not approve of the way you keep your rabbits. He may think they should be turned loose and allowed to destroy the garden. If he came over here night after night and let your rabbits out, think how angry you would be. Do you see, dear? You do what you feel to be right and let the other fellow keep tabs on his own conscience.
human
Well, I will, she sighed reluctantly.
gpt
Worms are awfully nasty things, anyway, Hugh. I had to pick some of them out of the can with my fingers, because they wouldn't come out.
human
Then we're all serene again, said her brother cheerfully.
gpt
And now it is after eleven and high time you were asleep.