The Nether World

gusty and bitter wind still s

d crowd of loiterers and the press of people waiting for tramcar or omnibus — east, west, south, or north; newsboys, eager to get rid of their last batch, were crying as usual, ‘Ech-ow! Exteree speciul! Ech-ow! Steend

anced at Kirkwood, but his eyes made no reply, and his lips were resolutely closed. She did not seem offended by this silence; on the contrary, her fa

d at lengt

don’t want to

N

t. Thank you for coming

well walk back with y

. I shan’t be

bbs had converted the establishment into one of a more pretentious kind. She called it ‘Imperial Restaurant and Luncheon Bar.’ The front shone with vermilion paint; the interior was aflare with many gas-jets; in the win

r that fell on his ears, irritated by the distant strains of the band, irritated above all by the fume of frying that pervaded the air for many yards about Mrs. Tubbs’s precincts. He observed that the customers tending that way were numerous. They consisted mainly of lads and young men who had come forth from neighbouring places of entertainment. The locality and its characteristics had been fami

ara came forth again. In silence she walked on beside him. Agai

ts?’ Sidney said, now that t

hall go o

to live ther

it’ll give them more room at home. Bob ca

rved the young man

ne with her; not seldom he had expressed unfavourable judgments by silence,

temper to-night, Mr. Kirkwood

ut in a few moments turned

ou’ve found! I should think it’ll improve your sel

er, it had always been a habit of speech in indignant criticism, and sympathy made him aware that nothing woul

oice. ‘You make a great mistake, as you always do when you pretend to know anything about me

derst

e line of the high blank wall was relieved in colourless gloom against a sky of sheer night. Opposite, the shapes of poverty-eaten houses and grimy workshops s

ch of each other after to-n

ould say, if this is how y

s on my mind, and I’ll say them now. I don’t know whether you think anything about it,

of mine!’ broke

happens to think different from you; you almost break his heart, because you won’t give way in things that he only means for your good — he that would give his life for you! It’s as well you should hear the truth for once, and hear it from me, too. Anyone else might speak from all sorts of motives; as for me, it makes me suffer more to say such things than it ever could you to hear th

d not resent his lecture more decidedly was no doubt due to its having afforded new proof of the

he said, t

im, but finally also said ‘G

atter of personal charms she regarded herself as by far Miss Hewett’s superior, and resented vigorously the tone of the latter’s behaviour to her. Clara, on the other hand, looked down upon Miss Peckover as a mere vulgar girl; she despised her brother Bob because he’ had allowed himself to be inveigled by Cl

onder you don’t put on a

ly. ‘I shan’t consult yo

wing she had the

and entered the back-room

Amy’s voice. ‘The candl

. She lit the candle. Its light disclosed a room much barer than the other one. There was one bed, in which Amy and Annie lay (Clara had to share it with them), and a mattress placed on the floor, where reposed little To

e door. Clara found her

my girl?’ he asked in a subdued

l go on

nd seemed about to ret

s the five shillings for a few weeks. S

n’s is your

able to give you something. It’

htened wo

right. Things’ll come round somehow. You

and went consol

e was cleaning a copper kettle. Clem, who had her sweetest morsel of cruelty yet in store, h

p or two on the toiling fingers, when a heavy footstep in the passage caused her

cried Clem. ‘Come down;

answered Bob, advanc

’ll see a

its way, whirled Bob round and dragged him to the head of the kitchen

,’ said Clem to her servant

she had closed the door, ‘who have

seated himself on the table, and was regarding Cle

? Do you call Pennyloaf

fiercely, her arms quivering at her sides, all the stature

son so named. ‘Get on with you! I’m sick of hearing you ta

r reproduction. ‘Sukey Jollop saw you with her down

uch a bloomin’ fool! Just because Suke Jollop’s dead nuts on me, an’ I won’t have nothin’ to say to her, she goes tellin’ t

eartily. The scene was prolonged. Bob had no recourse to tenderness to dismiss the girl’s jealousy. His self-conceit was supreme, and had always stood him in such stead with the young ladies who, to use his own expression, were ‘dead nuts on him,’ that his love-making, under whatever circumstances, always

locket, Bob, to put a bit of your

a event coming off next week. I won

See here; you ain’t goi

on’t be a bloom

allowed himself to be embraced and sent

would have imagined that he bore some heavy weight, for he proceeded very slowly, with a great clumping noise, surmounting one step at a time in the manner of a child. It was Mr. Marple, th

pation of the jest she was going to carry out. First of all she had to pick a quarrel with Jane; t

that sixpence I le

f endurance by her day and night of labour and agitation. Her fac

d, ‘I’m sure I haven’t

body ’ere but you. Little thief! We’ll see about this in th

t have exceeded that which rushed upon her heart when she was to

ith the effect she was producing. ‘Come along! I’m off to bed, an’ I’

e! — I can’t

frame was as incapable of resisting Clem Peckover’s muscles as an infant’s would have been. The door was open, but at that moment Jane uttered a shriek which rang and echoed through the whole house

! Don’t let

or it was she who, not being yet in bed, h

, repeat the same words of entreaty again and again. An

. ‘The ’ouse o’ fire? Wh

p; she spoke from

e I gave her a rap as she de

to me! She’s goin’ to shut me up all night with the coffi

that bloomin’ little liar! when I

, anybody can see she’s tellin’ the truth — can’t they, father? She’s half-s

ture to take her part; he grinned down over the banisters, and enjoyed the entertainment immensely. Dick Snape, whose room Bob shared, took the opportunity of paying off certain old scores he had standing against Clem. M

he bedroom, then, with a parting shot at Miss

re the child. ‘You’re safe for to-night, and we’ll see what

ords to utter her thanks she had none; she could only look something of what she felt. Clara made her undress and lie down with little Tom on the mattress. In a quarter of

Jane was talking and crying wildly, evidently reacting in her sleep t

asked, noticing a strangeness in

ad, an’ I’m so thirsty. May

u are. I’ll br

way. Clara did not go to sleep, and as soon as it was daylight she summoned her father to come an