Be sharp and put the light out.'
Pennyloaf obeyed the second injunction, and she too lay down,
keeping the child in her arms; of the 'mixture' she was afraid, for
a few days since the child of a neighbour had died in consequence of
an overdose of this same anodyne. For a long time there was silence
in the room. Outside, voices kept sounding with that peculiar
muffled distinctness which they have on a night of dense fog, when
there is little or no wheel-traffic to make the wonted rumbling.
'Are y'asleep?' Bob asked suddenly.
'No.'
'There's something I wanted to tell you. You can have Jane Snowdon
here again, if you like.'
'I can? Really?'
'You may as well make use of her. That'll do; shut up and go to
sleep.'
In the morning Pennyloaf was obliged to ask for money; she wished to
take the child to the hospital again, and as the weather was very
bad she would have to pay an omnibus fare. Bob growled at the
demand, as was nowadays his custom. Since he had found a way of
keeping his own pocket tolerably well supplied from time to time, he
was becoming so penurious at home that Pennyloaf had to beg for what
she needed copper by copper.
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