Page:A Child of the Jago - Arthur Morrison.djvu/83

 wondering, and alert to dodge in case the thing were a mere device to bring him within striking distance, went.

"W'y, Dicky Perrott," quoth Mr. Weech in a tone of genial surprise, "I b'lieve you could drink a cup o' cawfy!"

Dicky, wondering how Mr. Weech had learnt his name, believed he could.

"An' eat a slice o' cake, too, I'll be bound," Mr. Weech added.

Dicky's glance leapt. Yes, he could eat a slice of cake, too.

"Ah, I knew it," said Mr. Weech, triumphantly; "I can always tell." He rubbed Dicky's cap about his head and drew him into the shop, at this hour bare of customers. At the innermost compartment they stopped, and Mr. Weech, with a gentle pressure on the shoulders, seated Dicky at the table.

He brought the coffee, and not a single slice of cake, but two. True, it was not cake of Elevation Mission quality, nor was