lved to go back to the clubs and theatres once more.

Teddy increased so much in mental power that he took interest in fairy
tales, and he was a rigorous taskmaster. I was obliged to illustrate the
stories in varied ways. Once I was asked, "What's a gian'?" I said, "A
very, very big man." "Big as you?" "Far bigger." "How bigger? Has he got
legs, and heads, and--and things like that?" "We'll see. When I stand on
this chair I'm as big as a giant," but it was all of no avail, and only
after Teddy had seen a huge, knock-kneed being in a penny show did he
understand what a giant could be like. Then he asked for giant stories
on all occasions.

It struck me that I was neglecting Teddy's religious education. Hundreds
and thousands of such little fellows in and about London have no notion
of a God, or any ruling power save the policeman. I had a dark mind to
deal with, and Teddy's questions fairly beat me. Of course I took the
old orthodox ideas, and tried to make them simple, but Teddy posed me
like this:

"Do God live in a sky?"

"Far away. Yes; well, say in the sky."

"Where does he hang up his coat when he goes to his bed?"

What on earth was a poor, distracted loafer to say? I could not deal
with Jesus, for I saw that Teddy did not understand goodness. He knew
that I was kind, and he liked to kiss my hand slily, and rub his cheek
on my knee; but abstract goodness and gentle words like those of Jesus
did not appeal to him. I was satisfied to have a queer creature that
followed me like a dog, and I am afraid that if he had lived I should
have made him a kind of heathen; but the luck was against me. Teddy's
father came on a Sunday morning, and said, "If you don't mind, his
mother'd like to 'ave him along to dinner to-morrow. We got a bit o'
pork and a horrange spesshal for him." So Teddy went home when the ditch
was in worse order than usual. He had been kept amid good air, and he
was clean--I washed him myself--and I fancy that the stenches poisoned
him simply because he could not become acclimatised to the alley again.
Anyway, he was heavy and listless when he came back, and in two days I
had to send for his father and mother. I am not going into any pathetic
details, for that is not my line. Night after night I walked the floor
with the youngster, and when the doctor said I should catch diphtheria
if I kissed him, I said I didn't care a damn, for I was wild. Then my
boy went away.

One night I was walking about the