"Yes."
"That boat lies there at the service of that child. They have taken for him the Villa Eulalia; they have surrounded it with tents of men who are there to do no more than guard his safety; there are servants, horses, donkeys. The Gibraltar steamer brings packets of provisions or what not several times a week. In the town their money flows."
Rattier dropped his eyeglass.
"I think, mon ami," he said slowly, "that gold must be freer with them than gratitude. Were you thanked for what you did? I don't seem to remember it."
Aylmer shook his head.
"That is the mystery," he agreed. "I did little enough, but I was going to be thanked—till I disclosed my name. Then," he shrugged his shoulders, "you saw."
He meditated a minute. Then he burst out laughing.
"I was not allowed even to hold him, and I am not at all sure that I am not his guardian!" he said suddenly.
Rattier's surprise was evident, but he managed to concentrate it in a monosyllable.
"Eh?" he demurred wonderingly.