Page:A Child of the Jago - Arthur Morrison.djvu/30

 the court." Then after a pause, "I 'ope 'e's done a click," the boy said.

His mother winced. "I dunno wot you mean, Dicky," she said, but falteringly. "You—you're gittin' that low an'—"

"Wy, copped somethink, o' course. Nicked somethink. You know."

"If you say sich things as that I'll tell 'im wot you say, an' 'e'll pay you. We ain't that sort o' people, Dicky, you ought to know. I was alwis kep' respectable an' straight all my life, I'm sure, an'—"

"I know. You said so before, to father—I 'eard: wen 'e brought 'ome that there yuller prop—the necktie pin. Wy, where did 'e git that? 'E ain't 'ad a job for munse an' munse; where's the yannups come from wot's bin for to pay the rent, an' git the toke, an' milk for Looey? Think I dunno? I ain't a kid; I know."

"Dicky, Dicky! you mustn't say sich things!" was all the mother could