The manager fell in with them on the instant, only too pleased
to have the chance of obliging his most popular customer; and, in five
minutes, Tinker left the restaurant followed by a waiter bearing a tray
of dainties, all carefully chosen to tempt the appetite of a child.
They took their way to the gardens, and the little girl brightened up
at the sight of the returning Tinker. But when the waiter set the tray
on the seat, she flushed painfully, and though she could not draw her
hungry eyes away from the food, she stammered, "T-t-thank you very
m-m-much. B-b-but I haven't any money."
Tinker gave the waiter a couple of francs, and bade him come for the
tray in half an hour. Then he said cheerfully, "That's all right. The
food's paid for; and whether you eat it or not makes no difference. In
fact, you may as well."
The child looked from his face to the food and back again, wavering;
then said, with a little gasp, "Oh, I am so hungry."
Tinker took this for a consent, put some aspic of pate de foie gras on
her plate, and watched her satisfy her hunger with great pleasure,
which was not lessened by the fact that, for all her hunger, she ate
with a delicate niceness. He had feared from her neglected air that
her manners had also been neglected.
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