orphans, dears?"

"Yes," said Cecile, "our father is dead, and our mother, and our
stepmother, and we have no one to care for us, except Jane Parsons,
and we can't stay with Jane any longer, for if we did, we should only
be sent to the Union."

"And we couldn't go to the Union, though there _are_ good fires
there," interrupted Maurice, "because of Toby. If we went to the
Union, our dog Toby would get a yard of rope, that would be murder.
We can never, never, never go to the Union on account of murdering
Toby."

"So we came away." continued Cecile. "Jane Parsons sent us to London
with the guard yesterday. We are not English, we are foreign; me and
Maurice are just a little French boy and girl, and we are going back
to France, if we can find Jography to tell us how. But we want a
night's lodging first. Will you give us a night's lodging, ma'am? We
can pay you, please, ma'am."

"Oh, yes, I've no doubt you can pay me well, and I'm like to want
yer bit of money, and I suppose you want to bring Toby too."

"Yes and Toby too," said Maurice.

"Well, I never did hear the like, never. John, I say, John, come
here."

The man addressed as John came forward with great strides.