Page:The Mystery of a Hansom Cab.djvu/96

92 ain't warm, an' 'e won't want a fire as long as they allows 'im blankets."

"What did you tell him?" asked Calton, sharply.

"Ah! you may well say that," lamented Mrs. Sampson, rolling her dingy handkerchief into a ball, and dabbing at her red-rimmed eyes, which had quite a bacchanalian look about them, though, poor soul, it was owing to grief, and not to liquor. "'Avin' been beguiled by that serping in light clothes as wanted to know if 'e allays come 'ome afore twelve, which I said 'e was in the 'abit of doin', tho,' to be sure, 'e did sometimes use 'is latch-key."

"The night of the murder for instance."

"Oh! don't say that, sir," said Mrs. Sampson, with a terrified cackle. "Me bein' weak an' ailin' tho' comin' of a strong family, as allays lived to a good age, thro' bein' in the 'abit of wearin' flannels, which my mother's father thought better nor a-spilin the inside with chemistry."

"Clever man, that detective," muttered Calton to himself. "He got out of her by strategy what he never would have done by force. It's a strong piece of evidence against Fitzgerald, but it does not matter much if he can prove an alibi. You'll likely be called as a witness for the prosecution," he said aloud.

"Me, sir!" squeaked Mrs. Sampson, trembling violently, and thereby producing a subdued rustle, as of wind in the trees. "As I've never bin in the court, 'cept the time as father took me for a treat, to 'ear a murder, which there's no denying is as good as a play, 'e bein' hung, 'avin' 'it 'is wife over the head with the poker when she weren't lookin', and a berryin' 'er corpse in a back garding, without even a stone to mark the place, let alone a line from the Psalms and a renumeration of 'er virtues."

"Well, well," said Calton, rather impatiently, as he opened the door for her. "Leave us for a short time, there's a good soul; Miss Frettlby and I want to have a rest, and we will ring for you when we are going."

"Thank you, sir," said the lachrymose landlady, "an' I 'opes they won't 'ang 'im, which is sich a choky way of dyin'; but in life we are in death," she went on, rather incoherently, "as is well known to them as 'as diseases, an' may be corpsed at any minute, and as——"

Here Calton, unable to restrain his impatience any