in, sir. Any'ow, I'll 'ave a bit to eat and a bed to sleep in to-night,
and that's one comfort--"

Cleek had been watching the boy closely, narrowly, with an
ever-deepening interest; now he loosened the grip of his fingers and let
his hand drop to his side.

"Suppose I don't 'run you in,' as you put it? Suppose I take a chance
and lend you five shillings, will you do some work and pay it back to me
in time?" he asked.

The boy looked up at him and laughed in his face.

"Look 'ere, Gov'nor, it's playin' it low down to lark wiv a chap jist
before you're goin' to 'ang 'im," he said. "You come off your blessed
perch."

"Right," said Cleek. "And now you get up on yours and let us see what
you're made of." Then he put his hand into his trousers pocket; there
was a chink of coins and two half-crowns lay on his outstretched palm.
"There you are--off with you now, and if you are any good, turn up some
time to-night at No. 204, Clarges Street, and ask for Captain Horatio
Burbage. He'll see that there's work for you. Toddle along now and get a
meal and a bed. And mind you keep a close mouth about this."

The boy neither moved nor spoke nor made any sound. For a moment or two
he stood looking from the man to the coins and from the coins back to
the man; then, gradually, the truth of the thing seemed to trickle into
his mind and, as a hungry fox might pounce upon a stray fowl, he grabbed
the money and--bolted.