nd round the corner regarding their value. After
waiting a little while, Dempsey paid for his bread and cheese, and went
in search of the thieves. But the face of Henrietta Brown obliterated
all remembrance of thieves and diamonds, and he wandered for a few
days, sustained by his dream and the crusts that his appearance drew
from the pitiful. At last he even neglected to ask for a crust, and,
foodless, followed the beckoning vision, from sunrise to sundown.

It was a soft, quiet summer's night when Dempsey lay down to sleep for
the last time. He was very tired, he had been wandering all day, and
threw himself on the grass by the roadside. He lay there looking up at
the stars, thinking of Henrietta, knowing that everything was slipping
away, and he passing into a diviner sense. Henrietta seemed to be
coming nearer to him and revealing herself more clearly; and when the
word of death was in his throat, and his eyes opened for the last time,
it seemed to him that one of the stars came down from the sky and laid
its bright face upon his shoulder.

CHAPTER X

"ALMS-GIVING"

As I searched for a penny it began to rain. The blind man opened a
parcel and I saw that it contained a small tarpaulin cape. But the
several coats I wore made it difficult to find my change; I thought I
had better forego my charity that day, and I walked away. "Eight or
nine hours a day waiting for alms is his earthly lot," I said, and
walking towards the river, and leaning on the parapet, I wondered if he
recognised the passing step--if he recognised my step--and associated
them with a penny? Of what use that he should know the different steps?
if he knew them there would be anticipation and disappointments. But a
dog would make life comprehensible; and I imagined a companionship, a
mingling of muteness and blindness, and the joy that would brighten the
darkness when the dog leaped eagerly upon the blind man's knees. I
imagined the joy of warm feet and limb, and the sudden poke of the
muzzle. A dog would be a link to bind the blind beggar to the
friendship of life. Now why has this small blind man, with a face as
pale as a plant that never sees the sun, not a dog? A dog is the
natural link and the only link that binds the blind beggar to the
friendship of life.

Looking round, I could see that he was taking off his little cape, for
it had ceased raining. But in a few weeks it would rain every day, and
the wind would blow from the river in