"If you please, sir," said Billy in his singing voice, "would you mind telling us the time?"
"Go to----" But at that moment the gentleman lowered his fierce old eyes and encountered the gaze of Billy, who was standing full in his path.
Have you ever seen a wild beast suddenly grow tame? I have not, but I saw something like it on the occasion of which I speak. Never did a swifter or more astonishing change pa.s.s over the countenance of any human being. I really think the old fellow suffered a physical shock, for he stepped back two paces and looked for a moment like one who has been seriously hurt. Then he recovered himself; lowered his spectacles to the tip of his nose; gazed over them, at me for a moment, at Billy for a quarter of a minute, and finally broke out into a hearty laugh.
"Well," he exclaimed, in the merriest of voices, "you"re a couple of young rascals. What are your names, and how old are you, and what school do you belong to, and who are your fathers?"
We answered his questions in a fairly business-like manner until we came to that about the fathers. Here there was an interlude. For Billy had to explain, in succession, that he had no father, and no mother, and no brothers, and no sisters--indeed, no relations at all that he knew of.
And there was some emotion at this point.
"Bless my soul," said the old gentleman, "that"s very sad--very sad indeed. But who pays for your schooling?"
"A friend of my mater"s," said Billy. "He"s very good to me and has me to his house for the holidays."
"And gives you plenty of pocket-money?"
"Lots," answered Billy.
The old gentleman ruminated, and there was more emotion.
"Then you are not an unhappy boy?" he said at length.
"Not a bit," answered Billy.
"Thank G.o.d for that! Thank G.o.d for that! I should be very sorry to learn you were unhappy. I hope you never will be. You don"t _look_ unhappy."
"I"m not," repeated Billy.
All this time the old gentleman seemed quite unconscious of my existence. But I was not hurt by that. I was well used to being overlooked when Billy was with me, and never questioned for a moment the justice of the arrangement. But now the old gentleman seemed to recollect himself.
"What was it you asked me just now?" said he.
"We asked if you would mind telling us the time."
"Ha, just so. Now are you quite sure that what you asked for is what you want? You said "_the_ time" not "time." For you must know, my dears, that there"s a great difference between "time" and "_the_ time.""
Billy and I looked at each other, perplexed and disgusted--perplexed by the subtle distinction just drawn by the old gentleman; disgusted at being addressed as "my dears." ("He might as well have given us a kiss while he was about it," we thought.)
"We want _the_ time, if you please," we said at length.
"What, _the whole of it_?" said the old gentleman.
"No," answered Billy, "we only want the bit of it that"s going on now."
"Which bit is that?" said our venerable friend.
"That"s just what we want to know," answered Billy.
This fairly floored the old gentleman. "You"ll be a great Parliamentary debater one day, my boy," he said, "but the bit of time that"s going on now is not an easy thing to catch. My watch can"t catch it."
"Give us the best your watch can do," answered Billy.
This made the old fellow laugh again. "Better and better," said he.
"Well, the best my watch can do is a quarter past twelve. And that reminds me that you two young scamps have made me late for an appointment. Now be good boys, both of you; and don"t forget to write every week to your moth--to your friends. And put that in your pockets."
Whereupon he gave each of us half-a-sovereign.
We walked on in silence, not pondering what had happened, for we pondered nothing in those days, but serenely conscious of triumph. A potent secret was in our hands and the world was at our feet.
"It worked," said Billy at length.
"Rather!" I answered.
"It did him good."
"Rather!"
"We beat him."
"Rather!"
Presently we were greeted by the Park-keeper, who was a friend of ours.
"Well, young hopefuls," he said, "and who have you been asking the time of to-day?"
We pointed to the old gentleman whose figure was still visible in the distance.
"Him!" cried the Park-keeper. "Well, bless your rascal impudence! Do you know who _he_ is?"
"No."
"Why, he"s Lord----."
The name mentioned was that of a distinguished member of the Cabinet which had recently gone out of office.
Did we quail and cower at the mention of that mighty name? Did we cover ourselves with confusion? Not we.
"I"m awfully glad we asked him," said Billy as we walked away.
"So am I--I say, Billy, I wish we could meet the Pope. He"s jolly old, and I"ll bet he"s jolly miserable, too."
"You shut up about his being miserable," answered Billy, who, as we know, was a Roman Catholic. "He ain"t half as miserable as the Archbishop of Canterbury. I wish we could meet _him_!"
"Or the Emperor of Germany," I suggested.
"Yes, he"d do. I"d ask him, and you bet he"d tell us. But"--and here Billy"s manner became explosive--"I"ll tell you what! _I wish we could meet G.o.d!_ He"s a jolly sight older than the Pope, or the Archbishop of Canterbury, or the Emperor of Germany. I believe he"d like to be asked more than any of them. And I"d ask him like a shot!"
"But _he"s_ not miserable," I interposed.