How could it be done? No harm in thinking over an
affair of that kind when you have no intention of being drawn into
it yourself. There was that man at Peckham who poisoned his sister
not long ago; he was a fool to get found out in the way he did; he
might have--
The room in which he found Pennyloaf sitting was so full of fog that
the lamp seemed very dim; the fire had all but died out. One of the
children lay asleep; the other Pennyloaf was nursing, for it had a
bad cough and looked much like a wax doll that has gone through a
great deal of ill-usage. A few more weeks and Pennyloaf would be
again a mother; she felt very miserable as often as she thought of
it, and Bob had several times spoken with harsh impatience on the
subject.
At present he was in no mood for conversation; to Pennyloaf's
remarks and questions he gave not the slightest heed, but in a few
minutes tumbled himself into bed.
'Get that light put out,' he exclaimed, after lying still for a
while.
Pennyloaf said she was uneasy about the child; its cough seemed to
be better, but it moved about restlessly and showed no sign of
getting to sleep.
'Give it some of the mixture, then.
Pages:
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512
513
514
515
516
517
518
519
520
521
522
523