he had left behind him on the floor a tell-tale
reminder of his presence there.

Ail that day Bobby watched and waited for the expected arrival. He was
bitterly disappointed that bedtime came before there were any signs of
his uncle. Early the next morning he woke, wondering whether he had
come, and when Nurse told him that it was past ten o'clock before he
arrived, he eagerly enquired:

'And did he come quite by himself?'

'Of course, he did. I haven't seen him yet, but Jane says he's
wonderful good looking.'

When Bobby was dressed and Nurse had gone downstairs to fetch something
from the servants' hall, he ran to the green baize door and crept along
the passage to his uncle's bedroom. He listened outside, hoping he
might hear a strange voice or cough, but there was silence. Then he
peered down into a shining pair of boots which had evidently just been
cleaned and placed outside the door upon the mat.

He wondered how long it would take for his foot to grow big enough to
fill such a big boot. With a little chuckle of delight he slipped his
tiny feet into them and managed to walk one step forward without making
much noise. Finally, with another little snigger of laughter, he
thrust his chubby hand into the pocket of his overall and produced two
bright coloured marbles. He dropped one into each boot, murmuring as
he did so:

'For Master Mortimer, with mine own dear love.'

And then, rather aghast at his audacity, he fled along the passage to
his own territory, laughing softly as he went. After his nursery
breakfast he was turned into the kitchen garden again. He was never
supposed to play anywhere else, but he had a way of making little
excursions into the shrubberies. There were a good many hiding-places
in the old gardens. He considered it quite fairplay to haunt the shady
paths and even to make daring rushes out upon the lawn when no grown-up
was there. 'Children must keep out of sight,' had been dinned into his
ears by his careful nurse, and as long as he did that, he considered
that he played the game. He had no great desire to talk to any
grown-up person; he knew that he was voted a nuisance, and was quite
content to watch them from afar. But this unknown traveller interested
him greatly. He stole now into one of the shrubbery paths, and then
suddenly, coming towards him, he saw a tall dark man with bronzed skin,
a heavy moustache, and merry blue eyes. This much Bobby noted from the
dept