"From an old soldier. And I like to watch it, as you do."
"If you were a young swell in the Guards, you couldn't be smarter at it," The Rat said. "The way you hold yourself! The way you stand! You've got it! Wish I was you! It comes natural to you."
"I've always liked to watch it and try to do it myself. I did when I was a little fellow," answered Marco.
"I've been trying to kick it into these chaps for more than a year," said The Rat. "A nice job I had of it! It nearly made me sick at first."
The semicircle in front of him only giggled or laughed outright. The members of it seemed to take very little offense at his cavalier treatment of them. He had evidently something to give them which was entertaining enough to make up for his tyranny and indifference. He thrust his hand into one of the pockets of his ragged coat, and drew out a piece of newspaper.
"My father brought home this, wrapped round a loaf of bread," he said. "See what it says there!"
He handed it to Marco, pointing to some words printed in large letters at the head of a column. Marco looked at it and sat very still.
The words he read were: "The Lost Prince."
"Silence is still the order," was the first thought which flashed through his mind. "Silence is still the order."
"What does it mean?" he said aloud.