Alice and I flew to the rescue. I lived in dread of Philip really
injuring Charles some day, for his blows were becoming serious ones as
he grew taller and stronger, and his self-control did not seem to wax
in proportion. And Charles's temper was becoming very aggressive. On
this occasion, as soon as he had regained breath, and we found that no
bones were broken, it was only by main force that we held him back
from pursuing Philip.
"I'll hit him--I'll stick to him," he sobbed in his fury, shaking his
head like a terrier, and doubling his fists. But he was rather sick
with the fall, and we made him lie down to recover himself, whilst
Alice, Bobby, and I laid our heads together to plan a substitute for
Philip in the Dragon.
When bed-time came, and Philip was still absent, we became uneasy, and
as I lay sleepless that night I asked myself if I had been to blame
for the sulks in which he had gone off. In fits of passion Philip had
often threatened to go away and never let us hear of him again. I
knew that such things did happen, and it made me unhappy when he went
off like this, although his threats had hitherto been no more than a
common and rather unfair device of ill-temper.
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