se him so very much to find it did not seem to be exactly this
particular boy's nature. The Earl had passed a bad night and had spent
the morning in his room; but at noon, after he had lunched, he sent for
his grandson.

Fauntleroy answered the summons at once. He came down the broad
staircase with a bounding step; the Earl heard him run across the hall,
and then the door opened and he came in with red cheeks and sparkling
eyes.

"I was waiting for you to send for me," he said. "I was ready a long
time ago. I'm EVER so much obliged to you for all those things! I'm EVER
so much obliged to you! I have been playing with them all the morning."

"Oh!" said the Earl, "you like them, do you?"

"I like them so much--well, I couldn't tell you how much!" said
Fauntleroy, his face glowing with delight. "There's one that's like
baseball, only you play it on a board with black and white pegs, and you
keep your score with some counters on a wire. I tried to teach Dawson,
but she couldn't quite understand it just at first--you see, she never
played baseball, being a lady; and I'm afraid I wasn't very good at
explaining it to her. But you know all about it, don't you?"

"I'm afraid I don't," replied the Earl. "It's an American game, isn't
it? Is it something like cricket?"

"I never saw cricket," said Fauntleroy; "but Mr. Hobbs took me several
times to see baseball. It's a splendid game. You get so excited! Would
you like me to go and get my game and show it to you? Perhaps it would
amuse you and make you forget about your foot. Does your foot hurt you
very much this morning?"

"More than I enjoy," was the answer.

"Then perhaps you couldn't forget it," said the little fellow anxiously.
"Perhaps it would bother you to be told about the game. Do you think it
would amuse you, or do you think it would bother you?"

"Go and get it," said the Earl.

It certainly was a novel entertainment this,--making a companion of a
child who offered to teach him to play games,--but the very novelty of
it amused him. There was a smile lurking about the Earl's mouth when
Cedric came back with the box containing the game, in his arms, and an
expression of the most eager interest on his face.

"May I pull that little table over here to your chair?" he asked.

"Ring for Thomas," said the Earl. "He will place it for you."

"Oh, I can do it myself," answered Fauntleroy. "It's not very heavy."

"Very well," replied his grandfather. The lurking sm