"Daddy said I was to give you this myself," he said. "And he and mummy send veir love wiv it, cause you jumped into the water after me. I say, can I open ve parcel for you? I does love opening parcels!"
"Right oh!" said the puzzled Dick, vigorously towelling his face and head.
"It's a tick-tick, but you has to be vewy sp'rised," explained Bobby, kindly, fumbling with the string. "I fink I ought to have one, too, 'cause I was in the water wiv you. Oo-oh, it's tumbled!"
It had, but no further than the hearthrug on which he was sitting. Dick, who had had a vague idea that the small boy was carrying sweets, suddenly made a jump towards a little glittering heap that had slipped from its white tissue paper A beautiful gold watch and chain—no boy's watch but a man's; inside the hunting case his own name, with a brief inscription:
"To remember the Moondarra."
The date followed, and the Warners' initials. Dick stared at it blankly.
"It's a pwetty tick-tick, isn't it?" Bobby remarked, placidly. "Daddy has one like it, only ve twinses gave it to ve goat. I wouldn't let vem have yours, if I was you."
"I say, they oughtn't to," murmured Dick, still blankly looking at the watch. He did not refer to the twinses, but Bobby was satisfied.
"Vat's what daddy said when he got his back from ye goat," he remarked. "She had nearly etted it—it's all funny wiv her toof marks now. Where's you goin', Dick?"
Dick had plunged out into the hall in his shirt-sleeves, his wet hair standing on end, the watch and chain in his hand. There he ran into Mr. Warner, whose memories of the twinses' methods with watches possibly made him a little anxious at having made Bobby a messenger.