Maud sighed again. "They are all great pals," she said irrelevantly. "She and Bunny are terribly reckless. I hope they won't break their necks before they have done." "Or their hearts?" suggested Saltash, looking mischievous. She smiled. "I don't think there is much danger of that, anyhow at present. She is a positive child, Charlie,--as young as Eileen in many ways, or perhaps younger. Shall we walk down to the field and look at them?" "Your servant, madam!" said Saltash readily. He was on his feet in an instant, and she realized that he had been chafing to go since the moment of his arrival. "You take a great interest in her," she remarked, as they walked along the terrace. He made his most appalling grimace. "I have never had an infant to look after before," he said "And--I have to make my report to Larpent." "Ah! How is he?" questioned Maud. He shot her a swift glance. "Is the child anxious?" "Not in the least. I don't believe she ever thinks about him. She told me on the first day that she hardly knows him." Saltash laughed. "How honest of her! Well, he's getting better, but he won't be well yet. May I leave her in your charge, a while longer?" "Of course!" Maud said warmly. "I love to have her, and she is a great help to me too. The children simply worship her, and she is splendid with them. I believe Eileen will very soon get over her dread of riding." "Toby can ride?" asked Saltash. "Oh yes, like a cow-boy. She is amazingly fearless, and never minds a tumble in the least. She can do the most extraordinary things exactly like a boy. I am always afraid of her coming to grief, but she never does." "Funny little beggar!" said Saltash. "I am quite sure of one thing," pursued Maud. "She never learnt these things at any school. She tells me she has been to a good many." "I believe that's true," said Saltash. "I imagine she is fairly quick to pick up anything, but I haven't known her myself for long." "She must have picked up a good deal on _The Night Moth_," observed Maud unexpectedly. He glanced at her again. "Why do you say that? She was under my protection--and Larpent's--on _The Night Moth_." "I know. She idolizes you," Maud smiled at him somewhat dubiously. "But she must have mixed fairly freely with the crew to have picked up the really amazing language she sometimes uses." Saltash's brows worked whimsically. "Some of us have a gift that way," he remarked. "Your worthy Jake, for instance--" "Oh, Jake is a reformed character," she interrupted. "He hardly ever lets himself go now-a-days. And he won't allow it from Bunny. But Toby--Toby never seems to know the good from the bad." "Has Jake taken her in hand?" asked Saltash with a chuckle. "Oh yes. He checks her at every turn. I must say she takes it very sweetly, even offered to take her meals in her room yesterday when he was rather down on her. It absolutely disarmed Jake of course. What could he say?"