"Never fear; when Charlie touches him with his spear, or sees him light on the top of Niphates--one of which things will happen soon enough-- he'll not be slow to discover who he is. If not, I'll tell Walter, and he shall be Charlie's Uriel." "Touches him with his spear!--what spear?--top of Niphates!--Uriel!" said Whalley, with ludicrous astonishment; "here, Power, you're just in time to help me to put a strait-waistcoat on Flip. He says that when Wilton lights on the top of Niphates, which he will do soon, young Evson will discover that he's a scamp. What _does_ it all mean?" "It only means that Flip and I have been reading the Paradise Lost," said Power, laughing, "and at present Flip's mind is a Miltonic conglomerate." And he proceeded to explain to Whalley that Ithuriel was one of the Cherubs who guarded Eden-- ("Only that in this case Eden guards the cherub," observed Henderson, parenthetically.) "--and who, by touching Satan with his spear, made him bound up in his original state, when he sat like a toad squat at the ear of Eve, and, moreover, that Uriel had recognised Satan through his mask, when, lighting on Niphates, his looks became `Alien from heaven, with passions foul obscured.'" "Seriously, though," said Henderson, "Uriel must be asleep, or he wouldn't let his little brother get under Belial's wings." In fact, Wilton was forced to keep on the mask much longer than he had ever meant to do. He could find no joint in Charlie's armour. The boy was so thoroughly manly, so simple-hearted, so trustful and innocent, that Wilton could make nothing of him. If he tried to indoctrinate Charlie into the state of morality among the Noelites, either Charlie did not understand him, or else quite openly expressed his disapproval and even indignation; and when finally Wilton quite tired out, did throw off the mask, Charlie shook him away from him, turned with a sickening sensation from the unbared features of vice, and unfeignedly loathed the boy who had pretended to be his friend--loathed him all the more because he had tried to like him, but now saw the snare which was being spread in his sight.