lated that Elbert should be rising fourteen now, an' I saw then
thet 'e 'adn't grown an inch since I first see 'im, nor 'e hadn't
changed 'is ways, but still 'e run about laughin', playin' 'is little
kiddy-game, with 'is face to the sun. An' then I remembered 'ow often
'e'd tol' me things thet seemed too 'istorical for sich as 'im to come
by honest, tales about blokes in 'istory--nanecdotes 'e'd use to pass
acrost about Admiral Nelson, or Queen Bess--she use to make 'im chuckle,
she did--an' a chap called Shilly or Shally, 'oo was drownded. An' I got
struck all of an 'eap, to think 'e was some sort of an everlasting boy,
an' p'raps 'e was a devil, I thought, an' p'raps I'd sold me soul
without knowin' it. I never took much stock of me soul, but I always
'ad that debt o' mine in me mind, an' I wanted to pay it clean. For them
London mists agin the sky in the Spring, an' for the moonlight, an' for
the sky just before a thunderstorm--all them things seemed to 'ave come
out of the same box, like, an' I didn't like feelin' as 'ow they was all
jest charity.... 'Owever, I got this idee about Elbert, an' I didn't
sleep a wink thet night, an' couldn't enjoy me starlight. In the mornin'
'e come as usual, with 'is pretty blind smile, an' I ses to 'im:
'Elbert,' I ses, 'You ain't a crool boy, are you? You wouldn't do
anythink to 'urt me?' Lookin' at 'im, I couldn't believe it. ''Urt you?'
'e ses quite 'appily; 'an' why wouldn't I 'urt you? I'd as lief send you
to the Devil as not,' 'e ses. Well, cocky, I don't mind tellin' you I
lost me 'ead at that. I run awiy--run awiy from my Elbert--Oh, Gosh! I
bin an' give up me bits o' sticks to a neighbour, an' got a place, an'
went into service. I sneaked out one night, when Elbert 'ad gone 'ome. I
got a place up Kilburn way, an ol' couple, retired from the pawnbrokin'
line. The ol' man 'ad softening in 'is brain, an' said one thing all the
blessed time, murmurin' like a bee. The ol' woman never spoke, never did
no work, lef' it all to me. She was always a-readin' of 'er postcard
album, shiftin' the cards about--she 'ad thousands, besides one 'ole
book full of seaside comics. A beautiful collection. Well, I was dishin'
up the tea one night in the kitchen, an' I 'eard a laugh--Elbert's
laugh, like three little bells--an' there was Elbert lookin' in at the
window. I run after 'im--there wasn't nobody there. When I come back the
tripe was burnt an' I lef' it on the fire an' run away, thet minute.