"But
you'll let me cross over to Paris with you to-morrow, won't you?"
"I vill not! I vill not! Dere is de danger! De great danger! We
must vant de calm dat ees dead! I take no von vith me but mine own
self! And I vas not vould go, not for nodings; but I vas vant de
tousand pounds. Dere is my leetle girl to be lived and educate."
"But I do so want to be one of the first to cross the Channel in a
flying-machine," said Tinker plaintively.
"Ach, to be vurst! to be vurst! Dat is you English top and toe! Do I
vas hunt de orchid to be vurst discoverer? Not mooch. I hunt him for
money. Do I cross de Channel in my machine to be vurst? Nein, nein.
I cross him for de tousand pounds. And you I vould not take, no, not
for de oder tousand pound. Bah! You vas not at all von vonder-child;
you vas von foolish! Good-night, mine young friend, good-night." And
Herr Schlugst went into the galvanised iron hut where for the time
being he lived, watching over his precious machine.
The Tinker came out of the palisade which surrounded it, and walked
down the cliff into Brighton quite disconsolate; he could not see how
to get his way. He came into the Paragon Hotel and dressed for dinner
as sulky as a naturally cheerful soul could be.
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