appeared to stand upon the tips of his toes, in order that his walk
might not be too noisy. That fact might have suggested either mere
nervousness or a greater liking for life out of doors. When he walked it
was as though he did it all of a piece, so that his shoulders moved as
well as his legs. The habit was shown as he lunged forward to grip
Jenny's hand. When he spoke he shouted, and he addressed Pa as a boy
might have done who was not quite completely at his ease, but who
thought it necessary to pretend that he was so.

"Good evening, Mr. Blanchard!" he cried boisterously. "Sitting by the
fire, I see!"

Pa looked at him rather vacantly, apparently straining his memory in
order to recognise the new-comer. It was plain that as a personal matter
he had no immediate use for Alf Rylett; but he presently nodded his
head.

"Sitting by the fire," he confirmed. "Getting a bit warm. It's cold
to-night. Is there any noos, Alf Rylett?"

"Lots of it!" roared Alf, speaking as if it had been to a deaf man or a
foreigner. "They say this fire at Southwark means ten thousand pounds
damage. Big factory there--gutted. Of course, no outside fire escapes.
_As_ usual. Fully insured, though. It'll cost them nothing. You can't
help wondering what causes these fires when they're heavily insured. Eh?
Blazing all night, it was. Twenty-five engines. Twenty-five, mind you!
That shows it was pretty big, eh? I saw the red in the sky, myself.
'Well,' I thought to myself, 'there's somebody stands to lose
something,' I thought. But the insurance companies are too wide to stand
all the risk themselves. They share it out, you know. It's a mere