"I do not. But she sails with the morning for Halifax, I'm told. And
that's America way, and I insensed the cook--that was him that axed me
where I bought my coffee--to have an eye out for Micky, in case he might
come across him anywhere."

America way! To-morrow morning! A storm of thoughts rushed through my
head, and in my passionate longing for help I knelt up by the old
Irishwoman and laid my hand upon hers.

"Mother dear, do help me! You are so kind, and you've a boy of your own
at sea. I want to go to America, and I've no papers or anything.
Couldn't I stow away as Micky did? Couldn't I stow away on this one? I
can work well enough when they find me out, if I could only hide so as
to get off; and you know the ships and the docks so well, you could tell
me how, if only you would."

I am always ashamed to remember the feeble way in which I finished off
by breaking down, though I do not know that I could have used any
argument that would have gone so far with Biddy. If it had been a man
who had been befriending me, I'm sure I shouldn't have played the fool,
but it was a woman, so I felt doubly helpless in having to depend on
her, and she felt doubly kind, and, in short, I put my face in my hands
and sobbed.

For quite four hours after this I was puzzled to death by smelling stale
bad tobacco about myself; then I discovered that by some extraordinary
jerk in the vehemence of the embrace which was Biddy's first response to
my appeal, the little black pipe had got out of her coat-pocket and
tumbled down the breast of my slops.