"You won't find," he said proudly and with some truth, "you won't find another dog like this--not for _miles_!"
"Will 'e be much good as a watch dog, now?" asked Mr. Blank carelessly.
"Good?" said William, almost indignant at the question. "There isn't any sort of dog he isn't good at!"
"Umph," said Mr. Blank, looking at him thoughtfully.
"Tell me about things you've _done_," said William earnestly.
"Yus, I will, too," said Mr. Blank. "But jus' you tell me first 'oo lives at all these 'ere nice 'ouses an' all about 'em. See?"
[Illustration: WILLIAM DEPARTED WITH AN AIR OF SCOWLING MYSTERY, LEAVING HIS PARENTS SPEECHLESS WITH AMAZEMENT]
William readily complied, and the strange couple gradually wended their way along the road towards William's house. William stopped at the gate and considered deeply. He was torn between instincts of hospitality and a dim suspicion that his family would not afford to Mr. Blank that courtesy which is a guest's due. He looked at Mr.
Blank's old green-black cap, long, untidy hair, dirty, lined, sly old face, muddy clothes and gaping boots, and decided quite finally that his mother would not allow him in her drawing-room.
"Will you," he said tentatively, "will you come roun' an' see our back garden? If we go behind these ole bushes and keep close along the wall, no one'll see us."
To William's relief Mr. Blank did not seem to resent the suggestion of secrecy. They crept along the wall in silence except for Jumble, who loudly worried Mr. Blank's trailing boot-strings as he walked. They reached a part of the back garden that was not visible from the house and sat down together under a shady tree.
"P'raps," began Mr. Blank politely, "you could bring a bit o' tea out to me on the quiet like."
"I'll ask mother----" began William.
"Oh, no," said Mr. Blank modestly. "I don't want ter give no one no trouble. Just a slice o' bread, if you can find it, without troublin'
no one. See?"
William had a brilliant idea.
"Let's go 'cross to that window an' get in," he said eagerly. "That's the lib'ry and no one uses it 'cept father, and he's not in till later."
Mr. Blank insisted on tying Jumble up, then he swung himself dexterously through the window. William gave a gasp of admiration.
"You did that fine," he said.
Again Mr. Blank closed one eye.
"Not the first time I've got in at a winder, young gent, nor the larst, I bet. Not by a long way. See?"
William followed more slowly. His eye gleamed with pride. This hero of romance and adventure was now his guest, under his roof.
"Make yourself quite at home, Mr. Blank," he said with an air of intense politeness.
Mr. Blank did. He emptied Mr. Brown's cigar-box into his pocket. He drank three glasses of Mr. Brown's whiskey and soda. While William's back was turned he filled his pockets with the silver ornaments from the mantel-piece. He began to inspect the drawers in Mr. Brown's desk.
Then:
[Illustration: MR. BLANK MADE HIMSELF QUITE AT HOME]
"William! Come to tea!"
"You stay here," whispered William. "I'll bring you some."
But luck was against him. It was a visitors' tea in the drawing-room, and Mrs. de Vere Carter, a neighbour, there, in all her glory. She rose from her seat with an ecstatic murmur.
"Willie! _Dear_ child! _Sweet_ little soul!"
With one arm she crushed the infuriated William against her belt, with the other she caressed his hair. Then William in moody silence sat down in a corner and began to eat bread and butter. Every time he prepared to slip a piece into his pocket, he found his mother's or Mrs. de Vere Carter's eye fixed upon him and hastily began to eat it himself. He sat, miserable and hot, seeing only the heroic figure starving in the next room, and planned a raid on the larder as soon as he could reasonably depart. Every now and then he scowled across at Mrs. de Vere Carter and made a movement with his hands as though pulling a cap over his eyes. He invested even his eating with an air of dark mystery.
Then Robert, his elder brother, came in, followed by a thin, pale man with eye-glasses and long hair.
"This is Mr. Lewes, mother," said Robert with an air of pride and triumph. "He's editor of _Fiddle Strings_."
There was an immediate stir and sensation. Robert had often talked of his famous friend. In fact Robert's family was weary of the sound of his name, but this was the first time Robert had induced him to leave the haunts of his genius to visit the Brown household.
Mr. Lewes bowed with a set, stern, self-conscious expression, as though to convey to all that his celebrity was more of a weight than a pleasure to him. Mrs. de Vere Carter bridled and fluttered, for _Fiddle Strings_ had a society column and a page of scrappy "News of the Town," and Mrs. de Vere Carter's greatest ambition was to see her name in print.
Mr. Lewes sat back in his chair, took his tea-cup as though it were a fresh addition to his responsibilities, and began to talk. He talked apparently without even breathing. He began on the weather, drifted on to art and music, and was just beginning a monologue on The Novel, when William rose and crept from the room like a guilty spirit. He found Mr. Blank under the library table, having heard a noise in the kitchen and fearing a visitor. A cigar and a silver snuffer had fallen from his pocket to the floor. He hastily replaced them. William went up and took another look at the wonderful ears and heaved a sigh of relief. While parted from his strange friend he had had a horrible suspicion that the whole thing was a dream.
"I'll go to the larder and get you sumthin'," he said. "You jus' stay here."
"I think, young gent," said Mr. Blank, "I think I'll just go an' look round upstairs on the quiet like, an' you needn't mention it to no one. See?"
Again he performed the fascinating wink.
They crept on tiptoe into the hall, but--the drawing-room door was ajar.
"William!"
William's heart stood still. He could hear his mother coming across the room, then--she stood in the doorway. Her face filled with horror as her eye fell upon Mr. Blank.
"_William!_" she said.
William's feelings were beyond description. Desperately he sought for an explanation for his friend's presence. With what pride and _sang-froid_ had Robert announced his uninvited guest! William determined to try it, at any rate. He advanced boldly into the drawing-room.
"This is Mr. Blank, mother," he announced jauntily. "He hasn't got no ears."
Mr. Blank stood in the background, awaiting developments. Flight was now impossible.
The announcement fell flat. There was nothing but horror upon the five silent faces that confronted William. He made a last desperate effort.
"He's bin in the war," he pleaded. "He's--killed folks."
Then the unexpected happened.
Mrs. de Vere Carter rose with a smile of welcome. In her mind's eye she saw the touching story already in print--the tattered hero--the gracious lady--the age of Democracy. The stage was laid and that dark, pale young man had only to watch and listen.
"Ah, one of our dear heroes! My poor, brave man! A cup of tea, my dear," turning to William's thunderstruck mother. "And he may sit down, may he not?" She kept her face well turned towards the sardonic-looking Mr. Lewes. He must not miss a word or gesture. "How _proud_ we are to do anything for our dear heroes! Wounded, perhaps?
Ah, poor man!" She floated across to him with a cup of tea and plied him with bread and butter and cake. William sat down meekly on a chair, looking rather pale. Mr. Blank, whose philosophy was to take the goods the gods gave and not look to the future, began to make a hearty meal. "Are you looking for work, my poor man?" asked Mrs. de Vere Carter, leaning forward in her chair.