ds here."

Bill groaned.

"And it's too late for you to be punished for anything," ses Peter, arter
a moment.

Bill Jones groaned agin, and then, shaking 'is 'ead, began to w'isper 'is
wrong-doings. When the doctor came in 'arf an hour arterward all the men
was as quiet as mice, and pore Bill was still w'ispering as 'ard as he
could w'isper.

The doctor pushed 'em out of the way in a moment, and then 'e bent over
Bill and felt 'is pulse and looked at 'is tongue. Then he listened to
his 'art, and in a puzzled way smelt at the bottle, which Jasper Potts
was a-minding of, and wetted 'is finger and tasted it.

[Illustration: "The doctor felt 'is pulse and looked at 'is tongue."]

"Somebody's been making a fool of you and me too," he ses, in a angry
voice. "It's only gin, and very good gin at that. Get up and go home."

It all came out next morning, and Joe Barlcomb was the laughing-stock of
the place. Most people said that Mrs. Prince 'ad done quite right, and
they 'oped that it ud be a lesson to him, but nobody ever talked much of
witchcraft in Claybury agin. One thing was that Bill Jones wouldn't 'ave
the word used in 'is hearing.

ESTABLISHING RELATIONS

Mr. Richard Catesby, second officer of the ss. _Wizard_, emerged from the
dock-gates in high good-humour to spend an evening ashore. The bustle of
the day had departed, and the inhabitants of Wapping, in search of
coolness and fresh air, were sitting at open doors and windows indulging
in general conversation with any-body within earshot.

[Illustration: "Mr. Richard Catesby, second officer of the ss. _Wizard_,
emerged from the dock-gates in high good-humour."]

Mr. Catesby, turning into Bashford's Lane, lost in a moment all this life
and colour. The hum of distant voices certainly reached there, but that
was all, for Bashford's Lane, a retiring thoroughfare facing a blank dock
wall, capped here and there by towering spars, set an example of
gentility which neighbouring streets had long ago decided crossly was
impossible for ordinary people to follow. Its neatly grained shutters,
fastened back by the sides of the windows, gave a pleasing idea of
uniformity, while its white steps and polished brass knockers were
suggestive of almost a Dutch cleanliness.

Mr. Catesby, strolling comfortably along, stopped suddenly for another
look at a girl who was standing in the ground-floor window of No. 5. He
went on a few paces and then walked back slowl