er. As he went on, all at once he thought
he remembered the place, and whether it really was so, or only that
he had laid up the policeman's instructions well in his mind, he went
straight for the cellar of old Sal.

"He's a sharp little kid, anyhow, for as simple as he looks," said the
man to himself. "Not a wrong turn does he take! But old Sal's a rum un
for such a child to pay a morning visit to. She's worse when she's sober
than when she's half drunk. I've seen her when she'd have torn him in
pieces."

Happily then for Diamond, old Sal had gone out to get some gin. When
he came to her door at the bottom of the area-stair and knocked, he
received no answer. He laid his ear to the door, and thought he heard
a moaning within. So he tried the door, and found it was not locked! It
was a dreary place indeed,--and very dark, for the window was below the
level of the street, and covered with mud, while over the grating which
kept people from falling into the area, stood a chest of drawers, placed
there by a dealer in second-hand furniture, which shut out almost all
the light. And the smell in the place was dreadful. Diamond stood still
for a while, for he could see next to nothing, but he heard the moaning
plainly enough now, When he got used to the darkness, he discovered his
friend lying with closed eyes and a white suffering face on a heap of
little better than rags in a corner of the den. He went up to her and
spoke; but she made him no answer. Indeed, she was not in the least
aware of his presence, and Diamond saw that he could do nothing for her
without help. So taking a lump of barley-sugar from his pocket, which he
had bought for her as he came along, and laying it beside her, he
left the place, having already made up his mind to go and see the tall
gentleman, Mr. Raymond, and ask him to do something for Sal's Nanny, as
the girl was called.

By the time he got up the area-steps, three or four women who had seen
him go down were standing together at the top waiting for him. They
wanted his clothes for their children; but they did not follow him down
lest Sal should find them there. The moment he appeared, they laid their
hands on him, and all began talking at once, for each wanted to get some
advantage over her neighbours. He told them quite quietly, for he was
not frightened, that he had come to see what was the matter with Nanny.

"What do you know about Nanny?" said one of them fiercely. "Wait till
old Sal com