garette into the air.

"You'll be gittin' too fond of 'im, if y'ain't careful, Joe," she said
at last.

"Git work; wot's troublin' yer?" said Jonah, with a grin.

"Nuthin'; only I was thinkin' wot a fine child 'e'd be in a few years.
It's a pity 'e ain't got no real father."

"Wot d'yer mean?" said Jonah, looking up angrily. "W'ere do I come in?
Ain't I the bloke?"

"Well, y'are an' y'ain't, yer know," said Mrs Yabsley. "There's two
ways of lookin' at these things."

"'Strewth! I niver thought o' that," said Jonah, scratching his ear.

"No, but other people do, worse luck," said Mrs Yabsley.

Jonah stared at the child in silence. Mrs Yabsley turned and poked the
fire under the copper boiler. Suddenly Jonah lifted his head and cried:

"I say, missis, I can see a hole in a ladder plain enough! Yer mean
I've got ter marry Ada?"

The old woman left the fire and stood in front of him.

"Not a bit, Joe. I've give up that idea. Marriage wouldn't suit yous.
Your dart is ter be King of the Push, an' knock about the streets with
a lot of mudlarks as can't look a p'liceman straight in the face. You
an' yer pals are seein' life now all right; but wait till yer bones
begin ter stiffen, an' yer can't run faster than the cop. Then it'll
be jail or worse, an' yous might 'ave bin a good workman, with a wife
an' family, only yer knowed better--"

"'Ere, steady on the brake, missis," interrupted Jonah, with a frown.

"No, Joe, I don't mind sayin' that I 'ad some idea of marryin' yous an'
Ada, but ye're not the man I took yer for an' I give it up. I don't
believe in a man marryin' because 'e wants a woman ter cook 'is meals.
My idea is a man wants ter git married because 'e's found out a lot o'
surprisin' things in the world 'e niver dreamt of before. An' it's
only when 'e's found somethin' ter live for, an' work for, that 'e's
wot yer rightly call a man. That's w'y I don't worry about you, Joe.
I can see your time ain't come."

"Don't be too bleedin' sure," cried Jonah, angrily.

"Of course I'm only a fat old woman as likes 'er joke an' a glass o'
beer. I'd be a fool ter lay down the law to a bloke as sharp as yous,
that thinks 'e can see everything. But I wasn't always so fat I 'ad
ter squeeze through the door, an' I tell yer the best things in life
are them yer can't see at all, an' that's the feelin's. So take a
fool's advice, an' don't think of marryin' till yer feel there's
somethin' wrong wi' yer ins