"What is it, then?"
"Don't know, sir; but I think it's one o' those funny little bears, like fat monkeys."
"May I send on for Phra, father?"
"Yes, if you like; but perhaps they will not let him come."
"Oh, I think they will; and I promised always to send on to him when anything good was brought in."
"Very well," said his father quietly; "send."
"Run, Mike," said the boy excitedly, and the man made a grimace at him. "Well, then, walk fast, and ask to see him. They'll let you pass. Then tell him we've got a big specimen brought in, and ask him, with my compliments, if he'd like to come on and see it."
"Yes, sir;" and the man hurried out, while Mr. Kenyon, who had just helped himself to a fresh cup of coffee, leaned back in his chair and smiled.
"What are you laughing at, father?" said the boy, with his bronzed face reddening again. "Did I make some stupid blunder?"
"Well, I hardly like to call it a blunder, Hal, because it was done knowingly. I was smiling at the impudence of you, an ordinary British merchant's son, coolly sending a message to a palace and telling a king's son to come on here."