The Mark Of Cain

t was falling from the heavens; or rather, night seemed to be rising from the earth-steamed up, black, from the dingy trampled snow o

d" on the sides of Sundhope or Penchrist in the desolate Border-land. All day London had been struggling under her cold winding-sheet, like a feeble, feverish patient trying to throw off a heavy white counterpane. Now the counterpane was dirty enough. The pavements were three inches deep in a rich greasy deposit of mud and molten ice. Above the round glass or iron coverings of coal-cellars the

the streets in the more fashionable parts of the town had been unladen into the river. This may not be the most; scientific of sanitary modes of clearing the streets and squares, but it was the way that recommended itself to the wisdom of the Contractor. In the early evening the fog had lightened a little, but it fell sadly again, and grew so thick that the bridg

sible before the brown horses (they were yoked tandem) came into view. This cart was driven down to the water-edge, and was there upturned, with muc

bled at the iron pins which kept th

rumbled, "if the bles

wing on them afterward, and smacking his arms

chlessly as he stood at the smoking head of the

d borrow a hammer; and you might get a pint o' hot beer when ye're at it. Here's fourpence

c-a sovereign in t

Macadam, and emp

gible freeho

t he could scarcely capture the nimble fourpence. Why sh

egretful sullenness. His ragged great-coat, indeed, was dec

n where ye are, and I'll brin

eared in the warmer yellow of the light that poured through the windows of the old public-house. He was wiping his mouth wi

Blue ruin's more in my line," observed Thomas, epigram-matically, much comforted by his refreshment. Aid w

the cart was tilted up, and the snow tumbled out, partly into

. "E're's an old coat-sleeve

Bill, with a noble e

y," replied the chivalrous Tommy. Then he cried, "L

the frozen mound of lumpy snow. He might well have thought at first that the sle

p us to dig him

ed Bill, leaving

. But how the dickens did he get into the cart? Gue

ots through which the toes could be seen peeping ruefully, were all the visible raiment of the body. The clothes lay in heavy swathes and folds over the mise

A wretched woman in a thin gray cotton dress had come down

was her criticis

tanding in a tight ring round the body. The behavior of the people was typical of London gazers. No one made any remark, or offered any suggestion; they s

peeler, Bill," sa

' likely I am to find a pe

ample of the virtue of Temperance. It is true that he had only been "Blue Ribbon" since the end of his Christmas

been swaying this way and that. Neither was it a dispute between a cabman and his fare: there was no sound of angry repartees. It might be a drunken woman, or a man in a fit, or a lost child. So the outer circle of spectators, who saw nothing, waited, and patiently endured till the moment of revelation sh

warning, had brought with them a stretcher. He had told the

the officers stooped down and flashed his lantern on the heap

ed a voice in the crowd, as the pea

er the news that some pleasant entertainment was on foot had passed into

u?" asked the police

attooed this here cross and anchor on my arm? Dicky was a grand

, on his burly red forearm, the emblems of F

Miss," the speaker went on,

e light corpse, and tried vainly to straighten the frozen li

"but I warrant we didn't chuck him on t

ed one of the policemen suddenly. H

answered Tommy, pointing to a breached and batt

iderable space of waste ground. The old houses that recently occupied the site had been pulled down, probably as co

e space, but the idea evaporated when something else occurred to divert the general interest. Now cer

de the sheds when these were overcrowded. Not far off were stables fo

s all night or in the open?" asked the

shed, worn't it, B

ing a person disincli

hen the thing's plain enough. You started from th

nswered

ittle sprinkle o'

I don't remember on

nting to the dead man, "got drinking too much last night, lost hissel

bloomin' sleepy," one

when you started with the cart, and him in it, unbeknown. He's light e

was on; you could hardly se

n your face," said the policeman, without a

hey should make you an inspector, and set

compliment, and he contented himself with lifting the two handles of the stretcher which was next him. A covering was throw

se accompanied the body till it disappeared from their eyes within the hospital doors.

art was housed (beneath the sheds this time), and Bill had so far succumbed to the genial in

l had to tell; but there is a pleasure, in moments of emotional agitation, in repeating at intervals the same questions, and making over and again the same profound remarks. The charm of these performances was sure to be partic