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twg_000012584200 | and at the Home of Industry. The boy was very anxious to escape Seaward's observation. This was not a difficult matter. When the missionary left, after distributing his tracts, Sammy rose up and sought to hide himself--from himself, had that been possible--in the lowest slums of London. CHAPTER THIRTEEN. TELLS OF SOME ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584201 | Now it must not be supposed that Mrs Frog, having provided for her baby and got rid of it, remained thereafter quite indifferent to it. On the contrary, she felt the blank more than she had expected, and her motherly heart began to yearn for it powerfully. To gratify this yearning to some extent, she got into the habit... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584202 | paying frequent visits, sometimes by night and sometimes by day, to the street in which Samuel Twitter lived, and tried to see her baby through the stone walls of the house! Her eyes being weak, as well as her imagination, she failed in this effort, but the mere sight of the house where little Matty was, sufficed to ca... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584203 | maternal yearnings in some slight degree. By the way, that name reminds us of our having omitted to mention that baby Frog's real name was Matilda, and her pet name Matty, so that the name of Mita, fixed on by the Twitters, was not so wide of the mark as it might have been. One night Mrs Frog, feeling the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584204 | yearning strong upon her, put on her bonnet and shawl--that is to say, the bundle of dirty silk, pasteboard, and flowers which represented the one, and the soiled tartan rag that did duty for the other. "Where are ye off to, old woman?" asked Ned, who, having been recently successful in some little "job," was in high g... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584205 | goin' round to see Mrs Tibbs, Ned. D'you want me?" "No, on'y I'm goin' that way too, so we'll walk together." Mrs Frog, we regret to say, was not particular as to the matter of truth. She had no intention of going near Mrs Tibbs, but, having committed herself, made a virtue of necessity, and resolved to pay that lady | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584206 | a visit. The conversation by the way was not sufficiently interesting to be worthy of record. Arrived at Twitter's street an idea struck Mrs Frog. "Ned," said she, "I'm tired." "Well, old girl, you'd better cut home." "I think I will, Ned, but first I'll sit down on this step to rest a bit." "All right, old girl," said... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584207 | who would have said the same words if she had proposed to stand on her head on the step--so easy was he in his mind as to how his wife spent her time; "if you sit for half-an-hour or so I'll be back to see you 'ome again. I'm on'y goin' to Bundle's shop for a bit o' baccy. Ain't | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584208 | I purlite now? Don't it mind you of the courtin' days?" "Ah! Ned," exclaimed the wife, while a sudden gush of memory brought back the days when he was handsome and kind,--but Ned was gone, and the slightly thawed spring froze up again. She sat down on the cold step of a door which happened to be somewhat in the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584209 | shade, and gazed at the opposite windows. There was a light in one of them. She knew it well. She had often watched the shadows that crossed the blind after the gas was lighted, and once she had seen some one carrying something which looked like a baby! It might have been a bundle of soiled linen, or undarned socks, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584210 | but it might have been Matty, and the thought sent a thrill to the forlorn creature's heart. On the present occasion she was highly favoured, for, soon after Ned had left, the shadows came again on the blind, and came so near it as to be distinctly visible. Yes, there could be no doubt now, it _was_ a baby, and | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584211 | as there was only one baby in that house it followed that the baby was _her_ baby--little Matty! Here was something to carry home with her, and think over and dream about. But there was more in store for her. The baby, to judge from the shadowy action of its fat limbs on the blind, became what she called obstropolous. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584212 | More than that, it yelled, and its mother heard the yell--faintly, it is true, but sufficiently to send a thrill of joy to her longing heart. Then a sudden fear came over her. What if it was ill, and they were trying to soothe it to rest! How much better _she_ could do that if she only had the baby! | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584213 | "Oh! fool that I was to part with her!" she murmured, "but no. It was best. She would surely have bin dead by this time." The sound of the little voice, however, had roused such a tempest of longing in Mrs Frog's heart, that, under an irresistible impulse, she ran across the road and rang the bell. The door was | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584214 | promptly opened by Mrs Twitter's domestic. "Is--is the baby well?" stammered Mrs Frog, scarce knowing what she said. "_You've_ nothink to do wi' the baby that I knows on," returned Mrs Twitter's domestic, who was not quite so polite as her mistress. "No, honey," said Mrs Frog in a wheedling tone, rendered almost desper... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584215 | invention, "but the doctor said I was to ask if baby had got over it, or if 'e was to send round the--the--I forget its name--at once." "What doctor sent you?" asked Mrs Twitter, who had come out of the parlour on hearing the voices through the doorway, and with her came a clear and distinct yell which Mrs Frog | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584216 | treasured up in her thinly clad but warm bosom, as though it had been a strain from Paradise. "There must surely be some mistake, my good woman, for my baby is quite well." "Oh! thank you, thank you--yes, there must have been some mistake," said Mrs Frog, scarce able to restrain a laugh of joy at the success of her | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584217 | scheme, as she retired precipitately from the door and hurried away. She did not go far, however, but, on hearing the door shut, turned back and took up her position again on the door-step. Poor Mrs Frog had been hardened and saddened by sorrow, and suffering, and poverty, and bad treatment; nevertheless she was probab... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584218 | in London just then. "_My_ baby," she said, quoting part of Mrs Twitter's remarks with a sarcastic laugh, "no, madam, she's not _your_ baby _yet_!" As she sat reflecting on this agreeable fact, a heavy step was heard approaching. It was too slow for that of Ned. She knew it well--a policeman! There are hard-hearted pol... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584219 | indeed, but nothing is perfect in this world, and there are a _few_ hard-hearted policemen. He who approached was one of these. "Move on," he said in a stern voice. "Please, sir, I'm tired. On'y restin' a bit while I wait for my 'usband," pleaded Mrs Frog. "Come, move on," repeated the unyielding constable in a tone th... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584220 | no disputing. Indeed it was so strong that it reached the ears of Ned Frog himself, who chanced to come round the corner at the moment and saw the policeman, as he imagined, maltreating his wife. Ned was a man who, while he claimed and exercised the right to treat his own wife as he pleased, was exceedingly jealous of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584221 | the interference of others with his privileges. He advanced, therefore, at once, and planted his practised knuckles on the policeman's forehead with such power that the unfortunate limb of the law rolled over in one direction and his helmet in another. As every one knows, the police sometimes suffer severely at the han... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584222 | truth was verified, but the policeman who had been knocked down by this prize-fighter was by no means a feeble member of the force. Recovering from his astonishment in a moment, he sprang up and grappled with Ned Frog in such a manner as to convince that worthy he had "his work cut out for him." The tussle that ensued | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584223 | was tremendous, and Mrs Frog retired into a doorway to enjoy it in safety. But it was brief. Before either wrestler could claim the victory, a brother constable came up, and Ned was secured and borne away to a not unfamiliar cell before he could enjoy even one pipe of the "baccy" which he had purchased. Thus it came to | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584224 | pass, that when a certain comrade expected to find Ned Frog at a certain mansion in the West-end, prepared with a set of peculiar tools for a certain purpose, Ned was in the enjoyment of board and lodging at Her Majesty's expense. The comrade, however, not being aware of Ned's incarceration, and believing, no doubt, th... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584225 | thieves, was true to his day and hour. He had been engaged down somewhere in the country on business, and came up by express train for this particular job; hence his ignorance as to his partner's fate. But this burglar was not a man to be easily balked in his purpose. "Ned must be ill, or got a haccident o' | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584226 | some sort," he said to a very little but sharp boy who was to assist in the job. "Howsever, you an' me'll go at it alone, Sniveller." "Wery good, Bunky," replied Sniveller, "'ow is it to be? By the winder, through the door, down the chimbly, up the spout--or wot?" "The larder windy, my boy." "Sorry for that," said Sniv... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584227 | "Why?" "'Cause it _is_ so 'ard to go past the nice things an' smell 'em all without darin' to touch 'em till I lets you in. Couldn't you let me 'ave a feed first?" "Unpossible," said the burglar. "Wery good," returned the boy, with a sigh of resignation. Now, while these two were whispering to each other in a box | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584228 | of an adjoining tavern, three police-constables were making themselves at home in the premises of Sir Richard Brandon. One of these was Number . It is not quite certain, even to this day, how and where these men were stationed, for their proceedings--though not deeds of evil--were done in the dark, at least in darkness... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584229 | now and then by bull's-eye lanterns. The only thing that was absolutely clear to the butler, Mr Thomas Balls, was, that the mansion was given over entirely to the triumvirate to be dealt with as they thought fit. Of course they did not know when the burglars would come, nor the particular point of the mansion where the... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584230 | be delivered; therefore Number laid his plans like a wise general, posted his troops where there was most likelihood of their being required, and kept himself in reserve for contingencies. About that "wee short hour" of which the poet Burns writes, a small boy was lifted by a large man to the sill of the small window w... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584231 | Richard Brandon's pantry. To the surprise of the small boy, he found the window unfastened. "They've bin an' forgot it!" he whispered. "Git in," was the curt reply. Sniveller got in, dropped to his extreme length from the sill, let go his hold, and came down lightly on the floor--not so lightly, however, but that a woo... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584232 | was overturned, and, falling against a blue plate, broke it with a crash. Sniveller became as one petrified, and remained so for a considerable time, till he imagined all danger from sleepers having been awakened was over. He also thought of thieving cats, and thanked them mentally. He likewise became aware of the near... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584233 | delicious, but a sense of duty restrained him. Number smiled to himself to think how well his trap had acted, but the smile was lost in darkness. Meanwhile, the chief operator, Bunky, went round to the back door. Sniveller, who had been taught the geography of the mansion from a well-executed plan, proceeded to the sam... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584234 | have patted his little head as he carefully drew back the bolts and turned the key. Another moment, and Bunky, on his stocking soles, stood within the mansion. Yet another moment, and Bunky was enjoying an embrace that squeezed most of the wind out of his body, strong though he was, for Number was apt to forget his exc... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584235 | when duty constrained him to act with promptitude. "Now, then, show a light," said Giles, quietly. Two bull's-eyes flashed out their rich beams at the word, and lit up a tableau of three, in attitudes faintly resembling those of the Laocoon, without the serpents. "Fetch the bracelets," said Giles. At these words the bu... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584236 | open door, vanished--he was never heard of more! Then followed two sharp _clicks_, succeeded by a sigh of relief as Number relaxed his arms. "You needn't rouse the household unless you feel inclined, my man," said Giles to Bunky in a low voice. Bunky did _not_ feel inclined. He thought it better, on the whole, to let t... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584237 | lie, and wisely submitted to inevitable fate. He was marched off to jail, while one of the constables remained behind to see the house made safe, and acquaint Sir Richard of his deliverance from the threatened danger. Referring to this matter on the following day in the servants' hall, Thomas Balls filled a foaming tan... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584238 | he was an abstainer, though a butler--and proposed, in a highly eulogistic speech, the health and prosperity of that admirable body of men, the Metropolitan Police, with which toast he begged to couple the name of Number ! CHAPTER FOURTEEN. NUMBER OFF DUTY. Some time after the attempt made upon Sir Richard Brandon's ho... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584239 | own fireside, helmet and truncheon laid aside, uniform taken off, and a free and easy suit of plain clothes put on. His pretty wife sat beside him darning a pair of very large socks. The juvenile policeman, and the incorrigible criminal were sound asleep in their respective cribs, the one under the print of the Queen, ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584240 | of Sir Robert Peel. Giles was studying a small book of instructions as to the duties of police-constables, and pretty Molly was commenting on the same, for she possessed that charming quality of mind and heart which induces the possessor to take a sympathetic and lively interest in whatever may happen to be going on. "... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584241 | of you, Giles," remarked Molly with a sigh, as she thought of the prolonged hours of absence from home, and the frequent night duty. "Why, Moll, you wouldn't have me wish for easy work at my time of life, would you?" replied the policeman, looking up from his little book with an amused smile. "Somebody must always be t... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584242 | heavy lift of the hard work of this world, and if a big hulking fellow like me in the prime o' life don't do it, who will?" "True, Giles, but surely you won't deny me the small privilege of wishing that you had a _little_ less to do, and a _little_ more time with your family. You men,--especially you Scotchmen--are | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584243 | such an argumentative set, that a poor woman can't open her lips to say a word, but you pounce upon it and make an argument of it." "Now Molly, there you go again, assuming my duties! Why do you take me so sharp? Isn't taking-up the special privilege of the police?" "Am I not entitled," said Molly, ignoring her husband... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584244 | question, "to express regret that your work should include coming home now and then with scratched cheeks, and swelled noses, and black eyes?" "Come now," returned Giles, "you must admit that I have fewer of these discomforts than most men of the force, owing, no doubt, to little men being unable to reach so high--and,... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584245 | men who do most damage in life; they're such a pugnacious and perverse generation! As to swelled noses, these are the fortune of war, at least of civil war like ours--and black eyes, why, my eyes are black by nature. If they were of a heavenly blue like yours, Molly, you might have some ground for complaint when they a... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584246 | blackened." "And then there is such dreadful tear and wear of clothes," continued Molly; "just look at that, now!" She held up to view a sock with a hole in its heel large enough to let an orange through. "Why, Molly, do you expect that I can walk the streets of London from early morning till late at night, protect | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584247 | life and property, and preserve public tranquillity, as this little book puts it, besides engaging in numerous scuffles and street rows without making a hole or two in my socks?" "Ah! Giles, if you had only brain enough to take in a simple idea! it's not the making of holes that I complain of. It is the making of such | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584248 | awfully big ones before changing your socks! There now, don't let us get on domestic matters. You have no head for these, but tell me something about your little book. I am specially interested in it, you see, because the small policeman in the crib over there puts endless questions about his duties which I am quite un... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584249 | and, you know, it is a good thing for a child to grow up with the idea that father and mother know everything." "Just so, Molly. I hope you'll tell your little recruit that the first and foremost duty of a good policeman is to obey orders. Let me see, then, if I can enlighten you a bit." "But tell | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584250 | me first, Giles--for I really want to know--how many are there of you altogether, and when was the force established on its present footing, and who began it, and, in short, all about it. It's _so_ nice to have you for once in a way for a quiet chat like this." "You have laid down enough of heads, Molly, to | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584251 | serve for the foundation of a small volume. However, I'll give it you hot, since you wish it, and I'll begin at the end instead of the beginning. What would you say, now, to an army of eleven thousand men?" "I would say it was a very large one, though I don't pretend to much knowledge about the size of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584252 | armies," said Molly, commencing to mend another hole about the size of a turnip. "Well, that, in round numbers, is the strength of the Metropolitan Police force at the present time--and not a man too much, let me tell you, for what with occasional illnesses and accidents, men employed on special duty, and men off duty-... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584253 | actual available strength of the force at any moment is considerably below that number. Yes, it is a goodly army of picked and stalwart men, (no self-praise intended), but, then, consider what we have to do." "We have to guard and keep in order the population of the biggest city in the world; a population greater than ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584254 | whole of Scotland." "Oh! of course, you are sure to go to Scotland for your illustrations, as if there was no such place as England in the world," quietly remarked Molly, with a curl of her pretty lip. "Ah! Molly, dear, you are unjust. It is true I go to Scotland for an illustration, but didn't I come to England | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584255 | for a wife? Now, don't go frowning at that hole as if it couldn't be bridged over." "It is the worst hole you ever made," said the despairing wife, holding it up to view. "You make a worsted hole of it then, Moll, and it'll be all right. Besides, you don't speak truth, for I once made a worse hole | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584256 | in your heart." "You never did, sir. Go on with your stupid illustrations," said Molly. "Well, then, let me see--where was I?" "In Scotland, of course!" "Ah, yes. The population of all Scotland is under four millions, and that of London--that is, of the area embraced in the Metropolitan Police District, is estimated at... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584257 | round numbers. Of course I give it you all in round numbers." "I don't mind how round the numbers are, Giles, so long as they're all square," remarked the little wife with much simplicity. "Well, just think of that number for our army to watch over; and that population--not all of it, you know, but part of it--succeeds... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584258 | us in committing, during one year, no fewer than , `Principal' offences such as murders, burglaries, robberies, thefts, and such-like. What they would accomplish if we were not ever on the watch I leave you to guess. "Last year, for instance, burglaries, as we style house-breaking by night, were committed in London. Th... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584259 | when you consider the fact that the number of doors and windows found open by us at night during the twelve months was nearly ,. The total loss of property by theft during the year is estimated at about , pounds. Besides endeavouring to check crime of such magnitude, we had to search after above , persons who were repo... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584260 | lost and missing during the year, about , of whom were children." "Oh! the _poor_ darlings," said Molly, twisting her sympathetic eyebrows. "Ay, and we found of these darlings," continued the practical Giles, "and of the adults. Of the rest some returned home or were found by their friends, but adults and children have... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584261 | within the twelve months dead bodies which we had to take care of and have photographed for identification. During the same period, (and remember that the record of every twelve months is much the same), we seized over , stray dogs and returned them to their owners or sent them to the Dogs' Home. We arrested over , per... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584262 | being drunk and disorderly. We inspected all the public vehicles and horses in London. We attended to accidents which occurred in the streets, of which were fatal. We looked after more than , articles varying in value from pence to pounds which were lost by a heedless public during the year, about , of which articles w... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584263 | owners. We had to regulate the street traffic; inspect common lodging-houses; attend the police and other courts to give evidence, and many other things which it would take me much too long to enumerate, and puzzle your pretty little head to take in." "No, it wouldn't," said Molly, looking up with a bright expression; ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584264 | figures--especially for handsome manly figures! Go on, Giles." "Then, look at what is expected of us," continued Number , not noticing the last remark. "We are told to exercise the greatest civility and affability towards every one--high and low, rich and poor. We are expected to show the utmost forbearance under all c... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584265 | many blows as we can stand, without inflicting any in return; to be capable of answering almost every question that an ignorant--not to say arrogant--public may choose to put to us; to be ready, single-handed and armed only with our truncheons and the majesty of the law, to encounter burglars furnished with knives and ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584266 | of drunken maddened crowds and make arrests in the teeth of tremendous odds; to keep an eye upon strangers whose presence may seem to be less desirable than their absence; to stand any amount of unjust and ungenerous criticism without a word of reply; to submit quietly to the abhorrence and chaff of boys, labourers, ca... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584267 | fast young men; to have a fair knowledge of the `three Rs' and a smattering of law, so as to conduct ourselves with propriety at fires, fairs, fights, and races, besides acting wisely as to mad dogs, German bands, (which are apt to produce mad _men_), organ-grinders, furious drivers, and all other nuisances. In additio... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584268 | be men of good character, good standing--as to inches--good proportions, physically, and good sense. In short, we are expected to be--and blamed if we are not--as near to a state of perfection as it is possible for mortal man to attain on this side the grave, and all for the modest sum which you are but too well aware ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584269 | the extent of our income." "Is one of the things expected of you," asked Molly, "to have an exceedingly high estimate of yourselves?" "Nay, Molly, don't you join the ranks of those who are against us. It will be more than criminal if you do. You are aware that I am giving the opinion expressed by men of position who | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584270 | ought to know everything about the force. That we fulfil the conditions required of us not so badly is proved by the fact that last year, out of the whole , there were officers and men who obtained rewards for zeal and activity, while only one man was discharged, and four men were fined or imprisoned. I speak not of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584271 | number one--or, I should say Number . For myself I am ready to admit that I am the most insignificant of the force." "O Giles! what a barefaced display of mock modesty!" "Nay, Molly, I can prove it. Everything in this world goes by contrast, doesn't it? then, is there a man in the whole force except myself, I ask, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584272 | whose wife is so bright and beautiful and good and sweet that she reduces him to mere insignificance by contrast?" "There's something in that, Giles," replied Molly with gravity, "but go on with your lecture." "I've nothing more to say about the force," returned Giles; "if I have not said enough to convince you of our ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584273 | debt of gratitude that you and the public of London owe to us, you are past conviction, and--" "You are wrong, Giles, as usual; I am never past conviction; you have only to take me before the police court in the morning, and any magistrate will at once convict me of stupidity for having married a Scotchman and a police... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584274 | "I think it must be time to go on my beat, for you beat me hollow," said Number , consulting his watch. "No, no, Giles, please sit still. It is not every day that I have such a chance of a chat with you." "Such a chance of pitching into me, you mean," returned Giles. "However, before I go I | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584275 | would like to tell you just one or two facts regarding this great London itself, which needs so much guarding and such an army of guardians. You know that the Metropolitan District comprises all the parishes any portion of which are within miles of Charing Cross--this area being square miles. The rateable value of it i... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584276 | hundred thousand pounds sterling. See, as you say you've a good head for _figures_, there's the sum on a bit of paper for you--,, pounds. During last year , new houses were built, forming new streets and four new squares--the whole covering a length of miles. The total number of new houses built during the last _ten_ y... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584277 | area has been ,, extending over miles of streets and squares!" "Stay, I can't stand it!" cried Molly, dropping her sock and putting her fingers in her ears. "Why not, old girl?" "Because it is too much for me; why, even _your_ figure is a mere nothing to such sums!" "Then," returned Giles, "you've only got to stick me ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584278 | to the end of them to make my information ten times more valuable." "But are you quite sure that what you tell me is true, Giles?" "Quite sure, my girl--at least as sure as I am of the veracity of Colonel Henderson, who wrote the last Police Report." At this point the chat was interrupted by the juvenile policeman in | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584279 | the crib under Sir Robert Peel. Whether it was the astounding information uttered in his sleepy presence, or the arduous nature of the duty required of him in dreams, we cannot tell, but certain it is that when Number uttered the word "Report" there came a crash like the report of a great gun, and Number of the A Divis... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584280 | having fallen overboard, was seen on the floor pommelling some imaginary criminal who stoutly refused to be captured. Giles ran forward to the assistance of Number , as was his duty, and took him up in his arms. But Number had awakened to the fact that he had hurt himself, and, notwithstanding the blandishments of his ... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584281 | about and put him on his broad shoulders, and raised his curly head to the ceiling, he refused for a long time to be comforted. At last he was subdued, and returned to the crib and the land of dreams. "Now, Molly, I must really go," said Giles, putting on his uniform. "I hope Number won't disturb you again. Good-bye, | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584282 | lass, for a few hours," he added, buckling his belt. "Here, look, do you see that little spot on the ceiling?" "Yes,--well?" said Molly, looking up. Giles took unfair advantage of her, stooped, and kissed the pretty little face, received a resounding slap on the back, and went out, to attend to his professional duties,... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584283 | an incapable magistrate. There was a bright intelligent little street-Arab on the opposite side of the way, who observed Giles with mingled feelings of admiration, envy, and hatred, as he strode sedately along the street like an imperturbable pillar. He knew Number personally; had seen him under many and varied circums... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584284 | as hanging by the neck from a lamp-post--but never, even in the most daring flights of his juvenile fancy, had he seen him as he has been seen by the reader in the bosom of his poor but happy home. CHAPTER FIFTEEN. MRS. FROG SINKS DEEPER AND DEEPER. "Nobody cares," said poor Mrs Frog, one raw afternoon in November, as | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584285 | she entered her miserable dwelling, where the main pieces of furniture were a rickety table, a broken chair, and a heap of straw, while the minor pieces were so insignificant as to be unworthy of mention. There was no fire in the grate, no bread in the cupboard, little fresh air in the room and less light, though there... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584286 | a broken unlighted candle stuck in the mouth of a quart bottle which gave promise of light in the future--light enough at least to penetrate the November fog which had filled the room as if it had been endued with a pitying desire to throw a veil over such degradation and misery. We say degradation, for Mrs Frog had of | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584287 | late taken to "the bottle" as a last solace in her extreme misery, and the expression of her face, as she cowered on a low stool beside the empty grate and drew the shred of tartan shawl round her shivering form, showed all too clearly that she was at that time under its influence. She had been down to the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584288 | river again, more than once, and had gazed into its dark waters until she had very nearly made up her mind to take the desperate leap, but God in mercy had hitherto interposed. At one time a policeman had passed with his weary "move on"--though sometimes he had not the heart to enforce his order. More frequently a litt... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584289 | had looked up from the river with a smile, and sent her away to the well-known street where she would sit in the familiar door-step watching the shadows on the window-blind until cold and sorrow drove her to the gin-palace to seek for the miserable comfort to be found there. Whatever that comfort might amount to, it di... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584290 | long, for, on the night of which we write, she had been to the palace, had got all the comfort that was to be had out of it, and returned to her desolate home more wretched than ever, to sit down, as we have seen, and murmur, almost fiercely, "Nobody cares." For a time she sat silent and motionless, while | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584291 | the deepening shadows gathered round her, as if they had united with all the rest to intensify the poor creature's woe. Presently she began to mutter to herself aloud-- "What's the use o' your religion when it comes to this? What sort of religion is in the hearts of these," (she pursed her lips, and paused for an expre... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584292 | but found none), "these rich folk in their silks and satins and broadcloth, with more than they can use, an' feedin' their pampered cats and dogs on what would be wealth to the likes o' me! Religion! bah!" She stopped, for a Voice within her said as plainly as if it had spoken out: "Who gave you the sixpence the | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584293 | other day, and looked after you with a tender, pitying glance as you hurried away to the gin-shop without so much as stopping to say `Thank you'? She wore silks, didn't she?" "Ah, but there's not many like that," replied the poor woman, mentally, for the powers of good and evil were fighting fiercely within her just th... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584294 | you know there are not many like that?" demanded the Voice. "Well, but _all_ the rich are not like that," said Mrs Frog. The Voice made no reply to that! Again she sat silent for some time, save that a low moan escaped her occasionally, for she was very cold and very hungry, having spent the last few pence, which | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584295 | might have given her a meal, in drink; and the re-action of the poison helped to depress her. The evil spirit seemed to gain the mastery at this point, to judge from her muttered words. "Nothing to eat, nothing to drink, no work to be got, Hetty laid up in hospital, Ned in prison, Bobby gone to the bad again | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584296 | instead of goin' to Canada, and--nobody cares--" "What about baby?" asked the Voice. This time it was Mrs Frog's turn to make no reply! in a few minutes she seemed to become desperate, for, rising hastily, she went out, shut the door with a bang, locked it, and set out on the familiar journey to the gin-shop. She had n... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584297 | far to go. It was at the corner. If it had not been at that corner, there was one to be found at the next--and the next--and the next again, and so on all round; so that, rushing past, as people sometimes do when endeavouring to avoid a danger, would have been of little or no avail in this case. | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584298 | But there was a very potent influence of a negative kind in her favour. She had no money! Recollecting this when she had nearly reached the door, she turned aside, and ran swiftly to the old door-step, where she sat down and hid her face in her hands. A heavy footstep sounded at her side the next moment. She looked | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
twg_000012584299 | quickly up. It was a policeman. He did not apply the expected words--"move on." He was a man under whose blue uniform beat a tender and sympathetic heart. In fact, he was Number --changed from some cause that we cannot explain, and do not understand--from the Metropolitan to the City Police Force. His number also had b... | 60 | gutenberg | unknown |
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