"That is an Angel," whispered the Vicar. "You don't understand."

 

"What?" said the Doctor in a quick, sharp voice. His eyebrows¹ went up and he smiled.

 

"But the wings?"

 

"Quite natural, quite ... if a little abnormal."

 

"Are you sure they are natural?"

 

"My dear fellow, everything that is, is natural. There is nothing unnatural² in the world. If I thought there was I should give up practice and go into Le Grand Chartreuse. There are abnormal phenomena³, of course. And——"

 

"But the way I came upon him," said the Vicar.

 

"Yes, tell me where you picked him up," said the Doctor. He sat down on the hall table.

 

The Vicar began rather hesitatingly—he was not very good at story telling—with the rumours⁴ of a strange great bird. He told the story in[Pg 56] clumsy sentences—for, knowing the Bishop⁵ as he did, with that awful example always before him he dreaded⁶ getting his pulpit style into his daily conversation—and at every third sentence or so, the Doctor made a downward movement of his head—the corners of his mouth tucked away, so to speak—as though he ticked off the phases of the story and so far found it just as it ought to be. "Self-hypnotism," he murmured once.

 

"I beg your pardon?" said the Vicar.

 

"Nothing," said the Doctor. "Nothing, I assure you. Go on. This is extremely interesting."

 

The Vicar told him he went out with his gun.

 

"After lunch, I think you said?" interrupted the Doctor.

 

"Immediately after," said the Vicar.

 

"You should not do such things, you know. But go on, please."

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