She reviewed his conduct for the last few weeks, and
realised that, with the exception of one outburst of spirits, the boy
had been preoccupied, silent, inclined to be irritable. She studied his
face throughout the evening which followed, and was startled at what it
told, even as Hope had been before her.

It was not until the house was quiet, and Barney had retired to his
room, that Madge found her opportunity. Then she knocked softly at the
door, was told to come in, and entered, to find Barney hastily covering
up a bundle of papers. The action, the glimpse at the papers which
showed them so surely to be tradesmen's bills, fired Madge with fresh
indignation. She looked fixedly at the boy, and he returned her gaze
with surprised inquiry.

"Well! What do you want?"

"I want a little conversation with you apart from the rest. I was in
that tobacconist's shop this afternoon when you came in, Barney--that is
to say, I was in the room behind the shop putting a few last touches to
my sketch."

"Well!"

"The door was open, and I heard what you said."

Barney sat down on a chair, stretched out his legs, stuck his hands in
his pockets, and looked at her with an air of insolent calm. The
worried, downcast air which he had worn on her entrance disappeared as
if by magic; his face was hard, stubborn, and defiant.

"Well--and what if you did?"

"What if I did? You can ask me that, when by your own confession you
are betting and gambling, and leading a double life--when you are
throwing away money which is needed for daily bread!"

"I never threw away any of your money, did I? You mind your own
business, Madge, and leave me to mind mine."

"It is my business to look after you and keep you out of mischief.
Where did you get that five pounds? It is bad enough that you should
have lost it, but did you get it honestly, in the first place?"

"You'd better be careful what you say. You are not talking to a thief,
remember!"

"How am I to know that?" cried Madge wildly. "If a man begins to bet,
one can never tell to what he may sink next. And how could a boy like
you have such a sum to spare? Where did you get it, Barney? Wherever
you got it, it must be paid back at once."

There was no reply. Barney folded his arms, and set his lips in sullen
determination. The question was repeated, to be ignored once more, when
the tide of the girl's indignation could no longer be restrained.

"Coward! Despicable! To