t gentle, with a
half-quizzical tenderness. "Aren't you rather an ass, boy? What was
there to be afraid of?"

Toby could not tell him. He only, after a moment, slipped down in a
sitting position by Saltash's side and rested with more assurance against
the encircling arm.

"Come! I didn't hurt you much," said Saltash.

"No, sir. You didn't hurt me--at all." Toby stammered a little.
"You--you--you meant--not to hurt me, didn't you?"

"I must hit harder next time evidently," observed Saltash, with a squeeze
of the narrow shoulders.

"No, sir--no, sir! There shan't be--a next time!" Toby assured him with
nervous vehemence. "I only did it just to see--just to see--I'll never do
it again, sir."

"Just to see what?" asked Saltash curiously.

But again Toby could not explain himself, and he did not press him.

"Well, you didn't do it at all well," he remarked. "I shouldn't certainly
make a profession of it if I were you. It's plainly not your _metier_."

He paused, but with the air of having something more to say. Toby waited
silently.

It came with a jerk and a grimace, as if some inner force compelled. "I
can't talk pi-jaw--on this subject or any other. You see--I'm a rotter
myself."

"You, sir!" Toby lifted his head suddenly and stared at him with eyes
that blazed passionately blue in the starlight. "Don't believe it!" he
said. "It isn't true."

Saltash grinned a little. His face had the dreary look of something lost
that a monkey's sometimes wears. "You needn't believe it, son, if you
don't want to," he said. "But it's true all the same. That's why I gave
you that licking, see? Just to emphasize the difference between us."

"It isn't true!" Toby asserted again almost fiercely. "I'd kill anyone
else that said so."

"Oh, you needn't do that!" said Saltash, with kindly derision. "Thanks
all the same, my turkey-cock! If I ever need your protection I'll be sure
to ask for it." He flicked the young face with his finger. "But you're
not to follow my example, mind. You've got to run straight. You're young
enough to make it worth while, and--I'll see you have a chance."

"But you'll keep me with you, sir," said Toby swiftly. "You'll keep
me--always--with you!"

"Ah!" Saltash's brows twisted oddly for a second. He seemed to ponder the
matter. "I can't say off-hand what I'm going to do with you," he said.
"You're--a bit of a problem, you know, Toby."

"Yes, sir. I know. I know." Toby's voice was quick with agitat