“No,” said the woman. “He is King David Stanley. We are English Gypsies.”
“But—but you and he didn’t talk English?” Tess suggested, hesitatingly.
“Among ourselves we talk Egyptian,” said the woman, proudly. So she called the language of the Gypsies. “We are all Romany folk.”
Of course, the children did not understand much about this. But Dot was anxious upon one point, and she whispered to Tess:
“How can that big man be a king? He doesn’t wear a crown. Don’t all kings wear ’em? I never saw a picture of a king without one on his head—though I should think ’twould make ’em bald.”
“Sh!” whispered back Tess. “Maybe they aren’t comfortable to wear.”
“Well! where’s his scalper?”
“His what?” gasped Tess.
“His scalper,” declared Dot. “Kings always carry ’em in their hands.”
“Oh, for mercy’s sake!” ejaculated Tess. “A sceptre, you mean.”