Our conversation, carried on in a mixture of languages, must be here given in English.
"Indeed, I will, and gladly, Beelo!" I exclaimed; "but why not bring Lentala, that I may teach you together?" I seized his hand in my joy of this heavensent opportunity. It was a small, delicate hand.
"But she might come with you." I was pleased with the discovery that the savage girl had the fine instinct which establishes self-guarding and self-respecting conventions.
"The distance is long. Girls have to wear skirts, you know, and girls are not as active as boys. Lentala, with her skirts, would be seen, and the king would find out. I can slip through anywhere."
I nodded resignedly. Only with the greatest difficulty could I refrain from asking him many questions; but how did I know that he was not a spy? In establishing relations with him I was playing with every life in the colony. I observed Christopher. His air of listening to distant voices was not present, and I felt reassured for the moment.
Beelo was anxious to begin; and he had his first lesson. Never had I found so eager and sweet-tempered a pupil, and his quickness was extraordinary. I drilled him first in the names of familiar objects.
"Tudor." He caught it with a snap, as though it were a ball. "You have another name?"
He began a comical struggle with the J, laboriously twisting his tongue and lips as he pronounced the first syllable _Cho_ as the Chinese, _Yo_ as the German, _Zho_ as the French, and _Ho_ as the Spanish; but the English eluded him, and he gave it up, laughing sweetly. Often during the lesson I saw in his handsome deep-blue eyes--which were maturer than the rest of him--a dash of the mischief, the teasing, and the challenge that gave Lentala her sparkle.
"What is your name?" he demanded of Christopher, and pronounced it perfectly.
Christopher was gravely regarding the lad, who appeared disconcerted under the scrutiny. That disturbed me; but if the boy was seeking our undoing he would have to reckon with Christopher.
He was curious about Annabel, and sent her affectionate messages from Lentala.
"Beelo," I demanded, "where did you learn all those words from foreign languages?"
Taken by surprise, he was confused and a little frightened, and had the look of a child preparing a fib.
