his coat-tails and clung to them.

'Yer oughtn't to go up there--mother don't let any one go there.'

John wrenched himself violently away.

'Oh, don't she! yo take your 'ands away, yer little varmint, or I'll
brain yer.'

He raised his stick, threatening. The child, terrified, fell back, and
John, opening the door, rushed up the stairs.

He was so terribly excited that his fumbling fingers could hardly find
the ribbon round his neck. At last he drew it over his head, and made
stupendous efforts to steady his hand sufficiently to put the key in the
lock.

The children below heard a sharp cry directly the cupboard door was
opened; then the frantic dragging of a box on to the stairs, the creak
of hinges--a groan long and lingering--and then silence.

They clung together in terror, and the little girls began to cry. At
last Arthur took courage and opened the door.

The old man was sitting on the top stair, supported sideways by the
wall, his head hanging forward, and his hands dropping over his knees,
in a dead faint.

At the sight all four children ran helter-skelter into the lane,
shouting 'Mammy! Mammy!' in an anguish of fright. Their clamour was