you must."

"I'm afraid I must," said Peter.

So Leslie wrote letters about him, and secured him a humble post in a
warehouse. Leslie was not going to return to England at present. He was
going a tour round the world. Since Peter refused to accompany him, he
went alone.

"There's no one else I can fancy hanging round me day and night," he
said. "I wanted you, Margery"--the nickname fell from him with a clumsy
pathos--"but if you won't you won't. I shall acquire an abominable
collection of objects without you to guide me; but that can't be helped."

The other thing that happened was that Mrs. Johnson fell suddenly ill and
died. Before she died, she talked to Peter about Rhoda.

"It's leaving of her as I can't bear," she whispered. "All alone and
unprotected like. I can't leave her by herself in this heathen country.
I want to get her back to England. But she's got no relatives there as'll
do for her; none, you know, as I should care to trust her to, or as 'ud
be really good to her. And I'm afraid of what'll come to the child
without me; I'm _afraid_, Mr. Peter. That man--it gives me the creeps
of nights to think of him comin' after Rhoder when I'm gone. I'm just
frightened as he'll get her; you know what Rhoder is, like a soft wax
candle that gets droopy and gives before his bold look; he can do
anythin' with her. And if he gets her, he won't be good to her, I know
that. He'll just break her and toss her away, my little gal. Oh, what
can I do, Mr. Peter, to save that?"

She was in great pain; drops of sweat kept gathering on her forehead and
rolling on to the pillow. Peter took her hand that picked at the blanket.

"May we try to take care of her?" he gently asked. "If she will come
and stay with us, in London, it would be better than being alone among
strangers, wouldn't it? She could get work near, and live with us. Peggy
is fond of her, you know; we all are. We would try to make her as happy
as we could."

She smiled at him, between laboured breaths.

"God bless you, dear Mr. Peter. I somehow thought as how you'd be good
to my little gal.... You are so sympathetic to everyone always.... Yes,
Rhoder shall do that; I'll have her promise. And that man--you'll keep
him off of her?"

"I will try," said Peter. "I will do my very best."

"Oh, Lord, oh, dear Lord," said Mrs. Johnson, "the pain!"

But it didn't last long, for she died that night.

And four days later the boarding-house was broken up, and the Ma