Tinker and I will wait here."
Lord Crosland looked at his face, said, "Come along, missie," and
strolled off with the anxious child.
When they were out of hearing, Sir Tancred said, "I'm afraid the child
is in a bad mess. This disgusting uncle of hers lost every penny at
roulette last night; and the authorities, with their usual kindness,
took his ticket to London, and put him in the train with twenty-five
francs in his pocket."
"What a cad!" said Tinker shortly.
"Well, she is on our hands, and we must look after her till we can make
arrangements--deposit her in a home or something."
Tinker said nothing for a while; he seemed plunged in profound thought.
He kicked a little stone ten yards away; then raised his eyes to his
father's face and said, in the firm voice of one whose mind is made up,
"I should like to adopt her."
"Adopt her?" said Sir Tancred with some surprise.
"Yes; I should like to, very much."
"Well, thanks to your industry in the matter of flying-machines and
stolen children, you have a nice little income, so we needn't consider
the question of expense. You can afford it. But in what capacity
would you adopt her--as father, uncle, guardian, or what? The
formalities must be observed.
Pages:
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162