"Yell, that _is_ a rum go!" exclaimed my little companion, as we walked slowly away. "Don"t it seem to you, now, as if it wor all a dream?"
"It does, indeed," I replied, half inclined to laugh, yet with a feeling of sadness at my heart, for I knew that my doggie and I were parted for ever! Even if the young lady should insist on my keeping the dog, I felt that I could not agree to do so. No! I had committed myself, and the thing was done; for it was clear that, with the mutual affection existing between the lady and the dog, they would not willingly consent to be parted--it would be cruelty even to suggest a separation.
"Pshaw!" thought I, "why should the loss of a miserable dog--a mere ma.s.s of shapeless hair--affect me so much? Pooh! I will brush the subject away."
So I brushed it away, but back it came again in spite of all my brushing, and insisted on remaining to trouble me.
Short though our friendship had been, it had, I found, become very warm and strong. I recalled a good many pleasant evenings when, seated alone in my room with a favourite author, I had read and tickled Dumps under the chin and behind the ears to such an extent that I had thoroughly gained his heart; and as "love begets love," I had been drawn insensibly yet powerfully towards him. In short, Dumps and I understood each other.
While I was meditating on these things my companion, who had walked along in silence, suddenly said--
"You needn"t take on so, sir, about Punch."
"How d"you know I"m taking on so?"
""Cause you look so awful solemncholy. An" there"s no occasion to do so. You can get the critter back again."
"I fear not Slidder, for I have already given it to the young lady, and you have seen how fond she is of it; and the dog evidently likes her better than it likes me."
"Yell, I ain"t surprised at _that_. It on"y proves it to be a dog of good taste; but you can get it back for all that."
"How so?" I asked, much amused by the decision and self-sufficiency of the boy"s manner.
"Vy, you"ve on"y got to go and marry the young lady, w"en, of course, all her property becomes yours, Punch included, don"t you see?"
"True, Slidder; it had not occurred to me in that light," said I, laughing heartily, as much at the cool and quiet insolence of the waif"s manner as at his suggestion. "But then, you see, there are difficulties in the way. Young ladies who dwell in fine mansions are not fond of marrying penniless doctors."
"Pooh!" replied the urchin; "that "as nuffin" to do with it. You"ve on"y got to set up in a "ouse close alongside, with a big gold mortar over the door an" a one-"oss broom, an" you"ll "ave "er in six months-- or eight if she"s got contrairy parents. Then you"ll want a tiger, of course, to "old the "oss; an" I knows a smart young feller whose name begins with a S, as would just suit. So, you see, you"ve nothing to do but to go in an win."
The precocious waif looked up in my face with such an expression of satisfaction as he finished this audacious speech, that I could not help gazing at him in blank amazement. What I should have replied I know not, for we arrived just then at the abode of old Mrs Willis.
The poor old lady was suffering from a severe attack of influenza, which, coupled with age and the depression caused by her heavy sorrow, had reduced her physical powers in an alarming degree. It was obvious that she urgently required good food and careful nursing. I never before felt so keenly my lack of money. My means barely sufficed to keep myself, educational expenses being heavy. I was a shy man, too, and had never made friends--at least among the rich--to whom I could apply on occasions like this.
"Dear granny," I said, "you would get along nicely if you would consent to go to a hospital."
"Never!" said the old lady, in a tone of decision that surprised me.
"I a.s.sure you, granny, that you would be much better cared for and fed there than you can be here, and it would not be necessary to give up your room. I would look after it until you are better."
Still the old lady shook her head, which was shaking badly enough from age as it was.
Going to the corner cupboard, in which Mrs Willis kept her little store of food and physic, I stood there pondering what I should do.
"Please, sir," said Slidder, sidling up to me, "if you wants mutton-chops, or steaks, or port wine, or anythink o" that sort, just say the word and I"ll get "em."
"You, boy--how?"
"Vy, ain"t the shops full of "em? I"d go an help myself, spite of all the bobbies that valks in blue."
"Oh, Slidder," said I, really grieved, for I saw by his earnest face that he meant it, "would you go and steal after all I have said to you about that sin?"
"Vell, sir, I wouldn"t prig for myself--indeed I wouldn"t--but I"d do it to make the old "ooman better."
"That would not change stealing into a virtue. No, my boy, we must try to hit on some other way of providing for her wants."
"The Lord will provide," said Mrs Willis, from the bed.
She had overheard us. I hastened to her side.
"Yes, granny, He _will_ provide. Meanwhile He has given me enough money to spare a little for your immediate wants. I will send some things, which your kind neighbour, Mrs Jones, will cook for you. I"ll give her directions as I pa.s.s her door. Slidder will go home with me and fetch you the medicines you require. Now, try to sleep till Mrs Jones comes with the food. You must not speak to me. It will make you worse."
"I only want to ask, John, have you any--any news about--"
"No, not yet, granny; but don"t be cast down. If you can trust G.o.d for food, surely you can trust Him for protection, not only to yourself, but to Edie. Remember the words, `Commit thy way unto the Lord, and He will bring it to pa.s.s.""
"Thank you, John," replied the old woman, as she sank back on her pillow with a little sigh.
After leaving Mrs Willis I was detained so long with some of my patients that it was late before I could turn my steps westward. The night was very cold, with a keen December wind blowing, and heavy black clouds driving across the dark sky. It was after midnight as I drew near the neighbourhood of the house in which I had left Dumps so hurriedly that morning. In my haste I had neglected to ask the name of the young lady with whom I had left him, or to note the number of the house; but I recollected its position, and resolved to go round by it for the purpose of ascertaining the name on the door.
CHAPTER FIVE.
CONSPIRACY AND VILLAINY, INNOCENCE AND TRAGEDY.
In one of the dirtiest of the dirty and disreputable dens of London, a man and a boy sat on that same dark December night engaged in earnest conversation.
Their seats were stools, their table was an empty flour-barrel, their apartment a cellar. A farthing candle stood awry in the neck of a pint bottle. A broken-lipped jug of gin-and-water hot, and two cracked tea-cups stood between them. The damp of the place was drawn out, rather than abated, by a small fire, which burned in a rusty grate, over which they sought to warm their hands as they conversed. The man was palpably a scoundrel. Not less so was the boy.
"Slogger," said the man, in a growling voice, "we must do it this wery night."
"Vell, Bra.s.sey, I"m game," replied the Slogger, draining his cup with a defiant air.
"If it hadn"t bin for that old "ooman as was care-taker all last summer," continued the man, as he p.r.i.c.ked a refractory tobacco-pipe, "we"d "ave found the job more difficult; but, you see, she went and lost the key o" the back door, and the doctor he "ad to get another. So I goes an" gets round the old "ooman, an" pumps her about the lost key, an" at last I finds it--d"ye see?"
"But," returned the Slogger, with a knowing frown, "seems to me as how you"d never get two keys into one lock--eh? The noo "un wouldn"t let the old "un in, would it?"
"Ah, that"s where it is," replied Mr Bra.s.sey, with a leer, as he raised his cup to his large ugly mouth and chuckled. "You see, the doctor"s wife she"s summat timmersome, an" looks arter the lockin" up every night herself--wery partikler. Then she "as all the keys up into her own bedroom o" nights--so, you see, in consikence of her uncommon care, she keeps all the locks clear for you and me to work upon!"
The Slogger was so overcome by this instance of the result of excessive caution, that he laughed heartily for some minutes, and had to apply for relief to the hot gin-and-water.
""Ow ever did you come for to find that hout?" asked the boy.
"Servants," replied the man.
"Ha!" exclaimed the boy, with a wink, which would have been knowing if the spirits had not by that time rendered it ridiculous.
"Yes, you see," continued the elder ruffian, blowing a heavy cloud of smoke like a cannon shot from his lips, "servants is wariable in character. Some is good, an" some is bad. I mostly take up wi" the bad "uns. There"s one in the doctor"s "ouse as is a prime favourite with me, an" knows all about the locks, she does. But there"s a noo an"
unexpected difficulty sprung up in the way this wery mornin"."