Page:A Child of the Jago - Arthur Morrison.djvu/296

 waved away the suggestion. "Take id avay I tell you," he said. "I—'e von't 'ave nodden to do vid id."

"Wot's the matter with the chain, then?" asked Josh. But the fence walked away to the back of the shop, wagging his hands desperately, like a wet man seeking a towel, and repeating only: "Nodden to do vid id—take id avay—nodden to do vid it."

Josh stuffed his prize back into his pocket, and regained the street. He was confounded. What was wrong with Cohen? Did he suspect a police trick to entrap him? Josh snorted with indignation at the thought. He was no nark! But perhaps the police were showing a pressing interest in Cohen's business concerns just now, and he had suspended fencing for awhile. The guess was a lame one, but he could think of none better at the moment, as he pushed his way to the Jago. He would try Mother Gapp.