Sir John blinked, and for the first time his fingers went to his mouth, as if his lips had suddenly got beyond his control.
“If I may suggest it,” he said rather indistinctly, “I think it would be well if we signified our appreciation of his devotion in some substantial way. We might well do something between us.”
He paused and threw back his shoulders.
“I should like to give him some substantial token of my—gratitude.”
Sir John was nothing if not just.
“Thank you,” answered Jack quietly. He turned his head a little, and glanced, not at his father, but in his direction. “He will appreciate it, I know.”
“I should like to see him to-morrow.”
Jack winced, as if he had made a mistake.
“He is not in England,” he explained. “I left him behind me in Africa. He has gone back to the Simiacine Plateau.”
The old man's face dropped rather piteously.