How does the word choice in the following passage from "The Open Window" contribute to the mood of the story?

"Their bodies were never recovered. That was the dreadful part of it." Here the child's voice lost its self-possessed note and became falteringly human.

It creates a mood of humor, which is a clue to the reader that Vera is playing a joke on Mr. Nuttel.
It creates a mood of sadness, which allows the reader to believe what Vera is saying.
It creates a mood of tension, which makes the reader suspicious of what Vera is saying.
It creates a mood of mystery, which makes the reader question what Vera is saying.

Which of the following statements is a claim of definition?

Read this excerpt from the exposition in "the monkey's paw." father and son were at chess, the former, who possessed ideas about the game involving radical changes, putting his king into such sharp and unnecessary perils that it even provoked comment from the white-haired old lady knitting placidly by the fire. what is one piece of information you can infer about the story from this sentence? a. the father in the story is possessed, so he probably says insane things a lot. b. the woman in the story is knitting, so the characters probably don't have good clothes to wear. c. the father is playing chess with the son, but the son is not old enough to know the rules. d. since the father likes taking risks in a game, he might like taking risks in life as well.

What is a word that is stronger than "beautiful"