Very early next morning an impish figure sat astride the old wooden pump that stood near the door of the cottage.
He seemed to have no interest in anything save that door, and he sat very still, his eyes riveted upon it.
The old pump had not been used in years, but it served for a fine pedestal for Gyp.
At last he heard the key turn in the lock, and he was all attention.
The little maid opened it, and took in the milk jar.
"Where"s _her_?" he demanded. "I want ter see _her_!"
Greta nodded, and ran in to call Aunt Judith.
"There"s the queerest looking boy sitting out on top of the old wooden pump, and he says he wants to see you," said Greta.
Half guessing who it was, for what other boy would make an early morning call, and choose so odd a seat while he waited, Aunt Judith went to the door, and looked out.
"Did you wish to see me?" she asked with a pleasant smile, but Gyp had apparently forgotten what he had intended to say.
"The nuts were fine," Aunt Judith said, "and I want to thank you for them."
"_That"s_ what I came fer. I wanted ter know if them nuts was any good?"
"They were very nice indeed, and Gyp, I"ll give you something that will show you just what I did with them. Wait a moment."
Gyp waited, wondering if he had quite understood her. Who had ever given him anything?
Aunt Judith came to the door with a plate of sandwiches.
"There, Gyp," she said, "those sandwiches on that side of the plate are chicken but these on this side are filled with some of your nuts."
"Oh, who ever heard of bread stuffed with nuts!" he cried. "They"re _great_!" he cried a moment later, "but I don"t want the plate. We take what we eat in our _hands_ at home."
He suited the action to the words, for although the sandwiches were small, he managed to grasp one with both hands, demonstrating that it could be done.
"That was a kind little note that you sent with the bag of nuts," Aunt Judith said, "and since you"ve promised to be _my_ friend, Gyp, I promise to be _yours_."
"All right!" cried Gyp, "when does it begin?"
"What?" she asked in surprise.
"Why, _us_ bein" friends," said Gyp.
"_Now_, Gyp, my boy. _Now_!" said Aunt Judith. "Come in and we"ll talk it over."
"Oo-o-o! Not now!" cried Gyp, "but to-night, if I darest ter, I"ll dress up, and come."
He slid down from the tall old wooden pump, gave three wild hops, and then raced off across the field toward the old shed-like building that he called home.
She watched his flying figure from the doorway, and as he disappeared behind a clump of bushes, she turned, and closed the door.
"Strange, wild little fellow!" she said. "I wonder if he"ll come!" And when night came, she found herself listening for the sound of a quick step.
At last it came, and quickly Aunt Judith opened the door. Gyp walked in very meekly, and sat on the edge of a chair seat, his old hat in his hands. His hair was painfully smooth, and he wore a bright striped shirt, an old red tie, and while his suit could hardly be called "dressy," it certainly showed that the boy had brushed it, and that he had tried to improve his appearance.
At school he had learned that he must remove his hat when he entered a room, a fact that had greatly surprised him, but he had remembered it.
Aunt Judith felt that she must work carefully, lest Gyp be seized with fear, and bolt for the door, and freedom.
Gently she told him how, by doing his best, he would find friends who would deal kindly with him. That he might have friends if he chose, and that he could, by good behavior, force them to respect him.
"I will be your friend," she said, "and Gyp, let me prove it. Rose tells me that you find your lessons hard to master. Bring them to me evenings, and I will help you with them. You may come Wednesday, and Sat.u.r.day evenings, and perhaps you can win promotion, so as to climb steadily up to a cla.s.s of your own age."
"Do you think I _could?_" he asked. "Would they _let_ me?"
"_Make_ them do it, Gyp. You"re smart enough. Come! What do you say?
Let"s try," Aunt Judith said.
"I"ll do it," he said, "and if you help me, maybe I can get out of that cla.s.s. They laugh at me, and it makes me mad to be called "baby.""
"Come over here with your books Sat.u.r.day evening, and we"ll see what we two can do," was the earnest reply.
CHAPTER VIII
GYP"S AMBITION
Gyp sauntered along on the way to school, a thoughtful expression making his face less reckless than usual.
"Looks "s if "twould pay ter be decent," he said, half aloud.
He was very quiet, and the teacher questioned if he were planning mischief. The little pupils watched him, and wondered when his restlessness would begin.
His teacher wondered, too, but Gyp kept his eyes on his book, and appeared not to know that he was being watched.
For the first time since he had been forced to attend school, he had a perfect spelling lesson.
He stumbled over every long word in the reading lesson, however, and the problems in arithmetic puzzled him completely.
If the arithmetic had seemed easier he might not have appealed so promptly to Aunt Judith for aid, but the young teacher was unable to make it clear to him, and when evening came, he raced across the fields, his book under his arm, and tapped at her door.
"Ah, you"ve come, Gyp!" she said, smiling at him encouragingly, "I hoped you would."