Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Charles Franks and the

Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

THE EXTRA DAY

BY

ALGERNON BLACKWOOD

AUTHOR OF "THE CENTAUR," "A PRISONER IN FAIRYLAND," "INCREDIBLEADVENTURES," ETC.

New York

1915

Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1915. Reprinted November,1915.

CHAPTER

I THE MATERIAL

II FANCY—SEED OF WONDER

III DEATH OF A MERE FACT

IV FACT—EDGED WITH FANCY

V THE BIRTH OF WONDER

VI THE GROWTH OF WONDER

VII IMAGINATION WAKES

VIII WHERE WONDER HIDES

IX A PRIEST OF WONDER

X FACT AND WONDER—CLASH

XI JUDY'S PARTICULAR ADVENTURE

XII TIM'S PARTICULAR ADVENTURE

XIII TIME HESITATES

XIV MARIA STIRS

XV "A DAY WILL COME"

XVI TIME HALTS

XVII A DAY HAS COME

XVIII TIME GOES ON AGAIN—

XIX —AS USUAL

XX —BUT DIFFERENTLY!

CHAPTER I

THE MATERIAL

Judy, Tim, and Maria were just little children. It was impossible tosay exactly what their ages were, except that they were just the usualage, that Judy was the eldest, Maria the youngest, and that Tim,accordingly, came in between the two.

Their father did his best for them; so did their mother; so did AuntEmily, the latter's sister. It is impossible to say very much aboutthese three either, except that they were just Father, Mother, and AuntEmily. They were the Authorities-in-Chief, and they knew respectivelyeverything there was to be known about such remote and difficultsubjects as London and Money; Food, Health and Clothing; Conduct,Behaviour and Regulations, both general and particular. Into thesethree departments of activity the children, without realising that theydid so, classed them neatly. Aunt Emily, besides the special dutiesassigned to her, was a living embodiment of No. While Father allowedand permitted, while Mother wobbled and hesitated, Aunt Emily shook herhead with decision, and said distinctly No. She was too full ofwarnings, advice, and admonitions to get about much. She wore goldglasses, and had an elastic, pointed nose. From the children's point ofview she must be classed as invalid. Somewhere, deep down inside them,they felt pity.

The trio loved them according to their just deserts; they grasped thatthe Authorities did their best for them. This "best," moreover, wasdone in different ways. Father did it with love and tenderness, thatis, he spoilt them; Mother with tenderness and love, that is, she feltthem part of herself and did not like to hurt herself; Aunt Emily withaffectionate and worthy desire to see them improve, that is, shetrained them. Therefore they adored their father, loved their mother,and thought highly—from a distance preferably—of their aunt.

This was the outward and visible household that an ordinary person,say, a visitor who came to lunch on Sunday after church, would havenoticed. It was the upper layer; but there was an under layer too.There

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