"I took the liberty of getting it to bring him away, in
case you should let me have charge of him," she said.
The child still panted, but most of the terror had faded from his eyes;
he had recognised his friend. Sir Tancred looked at him hungrily; his
soul, so long starved, was feasting on the sight of that atom of
humanity, so grimy, so shocking to the eye, but his own child.
"They call you Hildebrand Anne, do they?" he said with a broken, joyful
laugh. "Tinker's the name for you!"
CHAPTER THREE
TINKER ACCEPTS HIS NAME
The child sat very still on Selina's lap, shrinking back as far as
possible from Sir Tancred. Selina kept talking to him, and his father
spoke to him several times, but he uttered never a sound. Once when
Sir Tancred moved suddenly, he threw up his little thin arm to guard
his face; and Sir Tancred swore.
They agreed that he would be happier if they took no notice of him for
a while, and sat quiet. He seemed relieved, for he sank into an easier
position on Selina's lap, and presently they saw him stroke his coat
with a caressing gesture, as though its softness pleased him. After a
long while, he sat up, looked at the horse, said in a quaint, thin
whisper, "Gee-gee--mine like gee-gee"; and then looked swiftly round
with frightened eyes, fearful lest he had drawn attention to his
existence.
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