Part 18 (1/2)

”Yes, do! Yes, please do!” Rollo whispered, and his mother patted his hand, pleased at the animation of the thin little face.

Lord Burdon hesitated: ”Take him to the Manor? Why, that may be miles from his home, you know.”

”I suppose we can send him back in the trap, can't we?” Lady Burdon said, a trifle disagreeably. ”You're a regular old woman, Maurice.

Lift him in next to Rollo. You can see how Rollo takes to him, I should have thought.”

”Didn't want to be had up for kidnapping, you know,” Lord Burdon responded cheerfully. ”Would be a bad start in the local opinion--eh?”

And he laughed with the appeal and the apology with which he always met his wife's waves of impatience. ”Shove up, Rollo! In you get, frog-hunter! Heavens! What a lump. All right. Drive on!”

”Gee up!” cried Percival, highly entertained, and chatted frankly with Lady Burdon as the wagonette bowled along. To her questions he was nearly eight, he told her; he would have another birthday in a short time; Honor gave him a sword at his last birthday and his Aunt Maggie gave him a trumpet. ”You may blow my trumpet, if you like,” turning to Rollo. ”Honor says it is poison to blow it because I've broken the little white thing what you blow through. But I blow it all right.”

Rollo flushed and smiled and put a thin little hand from beneath the rug and took Percival's muddy fist and held it for the remainder of the journey. Boy friends who did not laugh at him were new to him.

”Miss Oxford's little boy,” Percival explained to further questions.

”I live at the post-office, and we've got a drawer _full_ of stamps with funny little holes what you tear off.”

Lady Burdon turned to her husband: ”Ah, I know now. You remember? You remember the vicar telling us about Miss Oxford when we first came down here? Well, she's to be congratulated on her nephew. I'm glad. He'll be the jolliest little companion for Rollo.”

Lord Burdon remembered. ”Yes--this will be her sister's child.

Orphan, poor little beggar.”

And Lady Burdon: ”We'll be able to have him up with Rollo as much as we like, I've no doubt. Look how happy they are together,” and she smiled at them, chatting eagerly.

Percival was twisting and bending the better to see the occupants of the box-seat. A form that seemed familiar sat beside the driver.

”Why, that's Mr. Unt!” Percival cried brightly, and as the familiar form turned at the sound of its name, ”How's your poor headache, Mr.

Unt?” he asked. ”Much better now, isn't it?”

Mr. Unt's pallid face became slightly tinged with embarra.s.sment. ”The young gentleman spoke to me at the Manor Wednesday, me lady,” he apologised. ”Had come up to take tea with Mr. Hamber.” He profited by the touch of his hat with which he spoke to draw his hand across his forehead; a sick yedache clearly was still torturing there.

”His headaches are terrible,” Percival explained. ”I thought he was a clown, you know. I saw him driving in this carriage with tyrangs.”

Egbert's back s.h.i.+vered. ”Parding, me lady,” said he, turning again.

Lady Burdon laughed. ”Hunt,” she told Percival. ”Not Unt. He speaks badly.”

”You know, his headaches--” Percival began; and she added more severely: ”He is a servant.”

”He's my servant,” Rollo said. ”Hunt looks after me when I go out. I hate nurses, so I have him. He'll be yours too, if you'll come and play with me. Both of ours. May he, mother?”

”You can tell Miss Oxford that some one will always be there to keep an eye on you if she will let you come and play,” Lady Burdon replied to Percival.

”So now he is yours and mine,” cried Rollo, squeezing the hand he held.

”Thank you very much,” Percival said. ”Of course, if his headache is very bad we won't have him, because he will like to lie down.”

He spoke clearly; and a tiny little tremble of Egbert's back seemed to advertise again the grat.i.tude that sympathy aroused in him.

”Oh, that's nothing,” Rollo declared. ”He pretends.”