The San Francisco call., 1913-11-01


ground floor led steeply to an apart
ment above and eliminated in IAN
opening that suggested trap door.
The walls, roughly paneled, we're
well provided with shelves and pegs.
The back door was fastened with a
latch. contTivance rarely seen in
London of today. The front win
dow looked out into badly paved
court -girt by .itumbledovn stables.
A smaller window at the. back re-
vealed a dismal yard darkened by
lofts. Although little more than a
stones throw. removed from the
busy Mile End road. the place was
singular1y quiet. j was already
dead and only waited the coming of
men with pickaxes ard crowbars to
sweep away the ruins.
The boy heard his name wills
pered rather than spoken The
sound galvanized him into vivid con-
sciousness.
"Doctof," he said, earnestly, you
will come backav
"Yes. yes; within half an hour.
Tell your mother to- expect me-
Philip. ran up the stairs. Long
practice had enabled him to move
with minimum of noise. 1t was
pitiful TO see the manner in which
he emerged. with stealthy activity
into the creaking loft. above Here,
at the first glance, there was an
astonishing degree of comfort Odd
pieces of worn carpet. neatly joined
covered. the floor. The two win
dows, facing. only to the front. of
the dwelling, were curtained The
whitewashed walls were almost hid
den by cuttings from the colored
periodicals published during the pre-
vious Christmas season. A. screen
diyided the room into two compart-
inents, each containing. a tiny bed
On one of these, propped up with
pillows, lay the wasted figure of a
woman over whose face the shadows
were falling fast The extreme thin
ness, the waxen pallor, the delicate
texture of debilitated. skin and un-
natural brilliancy OF the eyes gave
her a remarkably youthful appear
ance. This fantastic trick of death
in life accentuated the resemblance
between mother and son. The boy,
too, was sharply outlined by hunger,
and in the. fading. light of March
day the differepce between the dread
tokens of approaching collapse and
the transient effects of scanty regi-
men on vigorous youth was not
readily sdistinguishable.
DO you want anything, mother
dear?"said the boy: laying his hand
tenderly on the claznny forehead. >
Only to ask you, Phil, what it
was that the doctor told YOU.
The voice was low and sweet-the
diction that of an educated woman.
The boy, too, though his tones were
strong and harsh, spoke with the ac-
cent Of good breeding His manner
and words gained some distinction
from slight touch of French ele-
gance and precision. This was only
noticeable in repose. When excited,
or moved to deep feeling, the con-
tinental veneer acquired at the Lycee
in Dieppe instantly vanished, and he
became the strenuous, emphatic
Briton undoubtedly was by birth
and breeding
BRAVE WORDS
"He said, dearest, that what you
wanted was some good wine-nice
things to cat. He is an awfully fine
chap, and | am afraid ! was rude to
him, but he didn't seem to mind it a
bit, and he is coming back soon with
chicken broth and port wine, and !
don't know what"
His brave words were we'll meant,
but the mothers heart understood
him too well to be deceived A thin
hand caught his wrist and feebly
drew him nearer.
You say you were rude to him,
Phil? How can that be possible?
What did you say to warrant such a
description"
He hesitated for moment. With
rare self-eontrol in one so young, he
hcrcely determined not to commune
cate his own despair to his mother