Oldal 148 [148]
I28 LITTLE LORD FAUNTLEROY.
outright, and called Fauntleroy up to him, and made him tell all about
the matter from beginning to end, and then he laughed again. And
actually, a few days later, the Dorincourt carriage stopped in the
green lane before the cottage where the lame boy lived, and Faunt¬
leroy jumped out and walked up to the door, carrying a pair of
strong, light, new crutches shouldered like a gun, and presented
them to Mrs. Hartle (the lame boys name was Hartle) with these
words: ‘My grandfather’s compliments, and if you please, these
are for your boy, and we hope he will get better.”
‘T said your compliments,” he explained to the Earl when he
returned to the carriage. ‘‘ You did n't tell me to, but I thought
perhaps you forgot. That was right, was nt it?”
And the Earl laughed again, and did not say it was not. In
fact, the two were becoming more intimate every day, and every
day Fauntleroy’s faith in his lordship’s benevolence and virtue in¬
creased. He had no doubt whatever that his grandfather was the
most amiable and generous of elderly gentlemen. Certainly, he
himself found his wishes gratified almost before they were uttered ;
and such gifts and pleasures were lavished upon him, that he was
sometimes almost bewildered by his own possessions. Apparently,
he was to have everything he wanted,. and to do everything he
wished to do. And though this would certainly not have been a
very wise plan to pursue with all small boys, his young lordship
bore it amazingly well. Perhaps, notwithstanding his sweet nature,
he might have been somewhat spoiled by it, if it had not been for
the hours he spent with his mother at Court Lodge. That “best
friend” of his watched over him over closely and tenderly. The
two had many long talks together, and he never went back to the
Castle with her kisses on his cheeks without carrying in his heart
some simple, pure words worth remembering.
There was one thing, it is true, which puzzled the little fellow
very much. He thought over the mystery of it much oftener than