It is surprising when the reader as well as children know that the man is friendly, nice and considerate. The author advocates the children saying that they always had something else to do. The question is: What else? During this story they were doing nothing except searching for the unknown. It is not mentioned that they worked and helped their parents or visited school. In this case the explanation of the author is not abundant. Before the end of the story the reader can

expect that it will end tragically. Also group of words ‘The last time’ repeated at the beginning of the story could indicate it. The man dies - alone. From the last paragraph it can be felt that the child character is confused and keeps the secret about the man which he would like to share with his parents but she is affraid that she will not be understood. The mood of the character as well as mine is described in two last sentences of the story: ’So I picked up my coat and ran out into the autumn rain. And who knew that it wasn’t the rain that damped my cheeks.’ (Stone, s.133)

VII. FIGURES OF SPEECH

– periphrasis ‘The adults, those proud possesors of wordly knowledge’ (p. 124)
- metaphor ‘The thin spirals of mist which wrapped around the trees’ (p. 124)
– metaphor ‘My heart jerking the strings of my cotton pinafore’ (p. 125)
– simile ‘As eager as a young bloodhound’ (p. 125)
– simile ‘Object waved about like a witch’s wand’ (p. 128)
- personification ‘Regarding us unblinkingly, almost insolently, rows and rows of dolls’
(p. 128)
– simile ‘His eyes were deep blue and cold and clear, like blue sky over snow’ (p. 129)
- metaphor ‘The blossom lent its fragile whiteness to the apple orchard’ (p. 132).