"All right," Glad answered; "we could look after 'er between us well
enough."

The thief was still sitting on the hearth, but being full fed and
comfortable for the first time in many a day, he had rested his head
against the wall and fallen into profound sleep.

"Wot's up?" said Glad when the two men came in. "Is anythin'
'appenin'?"

"I have come up here to tell you something," Dart answered. "Let us sit
down again round the fire. It will take a little time."

Glad with eager eyes on him handed the child to Polly and sat down
without a moment's hesitance, avid of what was to come. She nudged the
thief with friendly elbow and he started up awake.

"'E's got somethin' to tell us," she explained. "The curick's come
up to 'ear it, too. Sit 'ere, Polly," with elbow jerk toward the bundle
of sacks. "It's got its stummick full an' it'll go to sleep fast
enough."

So they sat again in the weird circle. Neither the strangeness of the
group nor the squalor of the hearth were of a nature to be new things to
the curate. His eyes fixed themselves on Dart's face, as did the eyes
of the thief, the beggar, and the young thing of the street. No one
glanced away from him.

His telling of his story was almost monotonous in its semi-reflective