The meal, however obtained, met with as much honour as it could
possibly have received from the farmer from whom its materials were
borrowed.

It was not without complacency that the worthy pair beheld the notice
their guest lavished upon a fair, curly-headed boy of about three
years old, the sole child and idol of the gypsy potentates. But they
did not perceive, when the youth rose to depart, that he slipped into
the folds of the child's dress a ring of some value, the only one he
possessed.

"And now," said he, after having thanked his entertainers for their
hospitality, "I must say good-by to your flock, and set out upon my
day's journey."

Lucy, despite her bashfulness, shook hands with her handsome guest;
and the latter, accompanied by the gypsy chief, strolled down to the
encampments.

Open and free was his parting farewell to the inmates of the two
tents, and liberal was the hand which showered upon all--especially on
the damsel who had been his Thais of the evening feast--the silver
coins which made no inconsiderable portion of his present property.

It was amidst the oracular wishes and favourable predictions of the
whole crew that he recommenced his journey with the gypsy chief.

When the tents were fairly out of sight, and not till then, King Cole
broke the silence which had as yet subsisted between them.