At the sight of Dorothy's beauty, he forgot his
righteous wrath; forgot that it was an international matter, another
instance of the cunning insolence of Perfidious Albion; protested his
delight that his car should have been of use to her; would not listen to
Septimus Rainer's proposal to fit it out with fresh tires, declaring that
the tires on it, worn in her service, had become one of his most
cherished possessions; and in the end turned upon Tinker with
outstretched arms, and cried, "Embrace me! I have called you a
good-for-nothing! But you are a hero!"
With infinite quickness Tinker seized the nearest hand, wrung it warmly,
and ducked out of the way of the embrace. Then he explained that unless
the police caught the kidnappers, they desired to let the matter drop,
for the gossip would be unpleasant to Dorothy. The Frenchman understood;
and assured them that as far as he was concerned, it should be buried in
the most secret depths of his bosom.
With that he took his leave of them; and on his heels came two Italian
detectives to inquire into the kidnapping. Sir Tancred was summoned to
the conference; and for all that their questioners assumed a good deal of
the air of inquisitors with all the horrors of the torture-chamber behind
them, he and Tinker saw to it that they went away very little wiser than
they came.
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