But it was nevertheless a house of delights to the child--a place of never-ending wonder. Only, in the midst of their exploration, Comethup suddenly remembered that he had that afternoon made an appointment with Captain Garraway-Kyle, and that that appointment must be kept. There was a sort of tremor at his heart when he remembered how the captain would be standing, just within the door of his cottage, with his watch on his palm, waiting for him at the hour named. He informed Brian that he must really go.
The boy looked at him in astonishment; a shade of annoyance crossed his face. "Oh, put him off!" he said.
Comethup shook his head very decidedly; he was troubled, like the gentle little creature he was, at the thought that he would have to show any discourtesy to his cousin; but it was quite imperative that he should meet the captain, and the thing had to be managed somehow. "No, I couldn't possibly do that. The captain and I are very great friends."
Brian looked at the sober young face for a moment, and then burst into a roar of laughter. "But he's so old!" he said, when he had recovered his gravity.
Comethup shook his head again, and smiled. "Not when you know him," he replied. "Sometimes he seems almost as young as I am, only ever so much wiser."
The other boy stared at him curiously. "Why, how old are you?" he asked.
"And I'm nine." Giving the other time to digest his superiority, he presently added: "Must you really go and see this old chap? You can easily explain afterward."
Comethup did not waver, but he decided to effect a compromise. "Why don't you come too?" he said. "He would be very glad to see you."
Brian looked a little ruefully round the untidy room in which they stood, and decided rapidly that it would be better to do that than to remain in the house alone. "Yes, I'll come," he said, and darted out into the hall for his cap.
Comethup ventured a suggestion. "Won't you--won't you ask your father?"
Brian laughed, and tossed Comethup's cap to him. "Not I," he cried. "Dad never knows where I am. All I have to do is to keep out of the way when I'm not wanted, and be right at his elbow when he thinks he'd like to see me. Come along."
"We'll have to run," said Comethup. "We're late."