Chapter VI: Part 6

“He didn’t come back until six-o’clock, but when ’e did come back ’e was a reg’lar sunbeam, smiling all over ’is face. He ’ad a look at Ginger and smiled, and then ’e went and smiled at Sam, with his ’and over ’is mouth.

“‘He’s drunk,’ ses Sam, trying to sneer.

“‘Mad _and_ drunk,’ ses Ginger.

“Peter didn’t say anything. He went and sat down on ’is bed and covered up ’is face with his ’andkerchief and the bed shook as if there was an earthquake sitting on it.

“‘’Ow--’ow--’ow’s the ’art, Ginger?’ he ses at last.

“Ginger didn’t answer ’im.

“‘And Sa--Sa--Sam’s pore old liver!’ ses Peter, going off agin.

“He wiped ’is eyes at last, and then ’e got up and walked up and down the room fighting for ’is breath and saying ’ow it hurt ’im. And when he saw them two pore invalids laying in bed and looking at each other ’elpless, ’e sat down and laughed till ’e cried.

“‘It’s the d-d-doctor,’ he ses at last. ‘The--the landlord told me.’

“‘Told you wot?’ ses Ginger, grinding ’is teeth.

“‘He--he ain’t a doctor,’ ses Peter, wiping ’is eyes; ‘he’s a bookmaker’s clerk, and you won’t see ’im agin ’cos the police are arter ’im.’

“You might have ’eard a pin drop, as the saying is, if it ’adn’t been for the choking noise in Sam’s throat.

“‘You ought to ’ave ’eard the landlord laugh when I told ’im about you and Sam,’ ses Peter. ‘It would ha’ done you good. ’Ow much money ’as he ’ad off of you, Ginger?’

“Ginger didn’t answer ’im. He got out of bed very slow, and put on ’is boots and ’is trowsis. Then ’e got up and locked the door.

“‘Wot are you doing that for?’ ses Sam, wot was sitting on the edge of ’is bed putting on ’is socks.

“‘I’m going to give Peter something else to laugh about,’ ses Ginger.”

THE END

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

Typos and mismatched puncutation (particularly quotation marks and apostrophes) corrected.

Some illustrations have been moved from their original positions to enhance readability. The page numbers in the list of illustrations remain unchanged from the original.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been left unchanged.