She made the Kaffir boy bring the camp-bed out of the guest-hut
which Burke had occupied of late and set it up in a corner of Guy's
room. Kieff had slept on a long-chair in the sitting-room, taking
his rest at odd times and never for any prolonged spell. She had
even wondered sometimes if he ever really slept at all, so alert
had he been at the slightest sound. But she knew that Burke hated
the long-chair because it creaked at every movement, and she was
determined that he should not spend another night on the floor.
So, while with trepidation she awaited him, she made such
preparations as she could for his comfort.
Joe, the house-boy, was very clumsy in all his ways, and Guy,
looking on, seemed to derive considerable amusement from his
performance. "I always did like Joe," he remarked. "There's
something about his mechanism that is irresistibly comic. Oh, do
leave him alone, Sylvia! Let him arrange the thing upside down if
he wants to!"
Joe's futility certainly had something of the comic order about it.
He had a dramatic fashion of rolling his eyes when expectant of
rebuke, which was by no means seldom. And the vastness of his
smile was almost bewildering. Sylvia had never been able quite to
accustom herself to his smile.
"He's exactly like a golliwog, isn't he?" said Guy. "His head will
split in two if you encourage him.
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