the neighbors were full of suggestions to billy at this crisis of his fate.

it was ascertained beyond all doubt that mrs. andersen would be six weeks, if not two months, away; and this being the case, the neighbors one and all declared roundly that there was nothing whatever for sarah ann but to become a workhouse baby. one of them would carry her to the house the very next morning, and of course she would be admitted without a moment's difficulty, and there would be an end of her.

billy might manage to earn a precarious living by running messages, by opening cab-doors, and by the thousand-and-one things an active boy could undertake, and so he might eke out a livelihood till his mother came back;[pg 229] but there was no hope whatever for sarah ann—there was no loophole for her but the workhouse.

to these admonitions on the part of his friendly neighbors, billy responded in a manner peculiar to himself. first of all, he raised two blue and very innocent eyes, and let them rest slowly and thoughtfully on each loquacious speaker's face; then he suddenly and without the slightest warning winked one of the said eyes in a manner that was so knowing as to be almost wicked, and then without the slightest word or comment he dashed into his attic and locked the door on himself and sarah ann.

"sarah ann, darling," he said, placing the baby on the floor and kneeling down a few paces from her, "will yer go to the workhouse, or will yer stay with yer h'own billy?"

sarah ann's response to this was to wriggle as fast as possible up to her affectionate nurse, and rub her little dirty face against his equally dirty trousers.[pg 230]

"that's settled, then," said billy; "yer has chosen, sarah ann, and yer ain't one as could ever abear contradictions, so we 'as got to see how we two can live."

this was a problem not so easily managed, for the neighbors took offense with billy not following their advice, and it was almost impossible for him to leave sarah ann long at home by herself. true to this terrible infant's character, she now refused to sleep by day, as she had hitherto done, thus cutting off poor billy's last loophole of earning his bread and her own with any comfort.

billy had two reasons which made it almost impossible for him to leave the baby in the attic; the first was his fear that tom jones, who still hovered dangerously about, might find her and carry her off; the second was the undoubted fact that if sarah ann was left to enjoy her own solitary company, she would undoubtedly scream herself into fits and the neighbors into distraction.

there was nothing whatever for it but for billy to carry the baby with him when he went in search of their daily bread.[pg 231]

poor little brave man, he had certainly a hard time during those next two months, and except for the undoubted fact that he and the baby were two of the sparrows whom our father feeds, they both must have starved; but perhaps owing to a certain look in billy's eyes, which were as blue as blue could be, in the midst of his freckled face, and also, perhaps, to a certain pathetic turn which the baby's ugliness had now assumed, the two always managed to secure attention.

with attention, came invariably a few pence—fourpence one day—sixpence and even eightpence another. the greater portion of the food thus obtained was given to sarah ann, but neither of the two quite starved. billy counted and counted and counted the days until his mother would be home again; and as, fortunately for him, mrs. andersen had paid the rent of their attic some weeks in advance, the children still had a shelter at night.

all went tolerably well with the little pair until a certain bitter day in the beginning of november. billy was very hopeful on the[pg 232] morning of that day, for his mother's time of captivity in the hospital had nearly expired, and soon now she would be back to take the burden of responsibility off his young shoulders.

sarah ann had hitherto escaped cold; indeed, her life in the open air seemed to agree with her, and she slept better at nights, and was really becoming quite a nice tempered baby.

billy used to look at her with the most old fatherly admiration, and assured her that she was such a darling duck of a cherub that he could almost eat her up.

no, sarah ann had never taken cold, but billy felt a certain amount of uneasiness on this particular morning, which was as sleety, as gusty, as altogether melancholy a day as ever dawned on the great london world.

there was no help for it, however, the daily bread must be found; and he and the baby must face the elements. he wrapped an old woolen comforter several times round sarah ann's throat, and beneath the comforter secured[pg 233] a very thin and worn paisley shawl of his mother's, and then buttoning up his own ragged jacket, and shuffling along in his large and untidy boots, he set forth. whether it was the insufficient food he had lately partaken of or that the baby was really growing very heavy, poor billy almost staggered to-day under sarah ann's weight. he found himself obliged to lean for support against a pillar box, and then he discovered to his distress that the baby began to sneeze, that her tiny face was blue, and that her solemn black eyes had quite a weary and tearful look.

"she's a-catchin' cold, the blessed, blessed babby," exclaimed poor billy; "oh, sairey ann, darlin', don't you go and take the brownchitis, and break the heart of your h'own billy. oh! lady, lady, give us a 'ap'enny, or a penny. give us a copper, please, kind lady."

the lady so aprostrophized was good-natured enough to bestow a few pence on the starved-looking children, and after a certain miserable fashion the morning passed away.

this was, however, billy's only money success,[pg 234] and he was just making up his mind to go home, and to prefer starvation in his attic to running the feeble chance of securing any more charities.

sarah ann still continued to sneeze and her eyes still looked watery, and billy was sorrowfully giving up his hope of receiving any more coppers, when he came face to face with his old adversary and tormentor, tom jones.

in the anxiety of these latter few weeks, billy had lost his old fear of tom, and he was now so spent and exhausted that he greeted him with almost pleasure.

"oh! tom, do hold the babby just for one minute, just for me to get a wee bit of breath. i'm all blown like, and i'm afeard as sarah ann 'as taken cold; jest hold her for one minute—will yer?"

tom, who was looking rather white and shaken himself, just glanced into billy's face, and some gibing words, which were on the tip of his tongue, were restrained.

"why, yer does look bad, billy andersen," he said, and then, without another word, he[pg 235] lifted the baby out of the little lad's trembling arms, and held her in an awkward but not altogether untender fashion.

"look you here, billy," he said, "ef yer likes to round quick this 'ere corner, there are two cabs coming up to a house as i passed, and they are sure to want a boy to help in with the boxes, and you maybe earn sixpence or a bob; run round this yere minute—quick, billy, quick."

"i'd like to, awful well," said billy, "and the run will warm me, and wouldn't the bob be fine—but, oh! tom, will yer hold sairey ann? and will yer promise not to run away with her? will yer promise sure and faithful, tom?"

"what in the world should i do that for?" said tom. "what good would yer sairey ann be to me? my h'eyes—i has work enough to get my h'own victuals. there, billy, i'll not deprive you of the babby; you jest run round the corner, or yer'll lose the chance. there, billy, be quick; you'll find sairey ann safe enough when yer comes back."[pg 236]

the poor thin and cold baby gave a little cry as billy ran off, but the chance was too good for him to lose; and, after all, what earthly use could tom have with sairey ann?