yourself, I mean?"

Captain Elisha grinned in appreciation of a private joke. "There is
somebody else," he admitted, "who'll pay a share, anyhow. I don't
know's he's what you call a bosom friend, and, as for his sleepin'
nights--well, I never heard he couldn't do that, after he went to bed.
But, anyhow, you saw wood, or bones, or whatever you have to do, and
leave the rest to me. And don't tell Caroline or anybody else a word."

The Moriartys lived in a four-room flat on the East Side, uptown, and
his visits there gave the captain a glimpse of another sort of New
York life, as different from that of Central Park West as could well be
imagined. The old man, Patrick, his wife, Margaret, the unmarried son,
Dennis, who worked in the gas house, and five other children of various
ages were hived somehow in those four small rooms and Captain Elisha
marveled greatly thereat.

"For the land sakes, ma'am," he asked of the nurse, "how do they do it?
Where do they put 'em nights? That--that closet in there's the pantry
and woodshed and kitchen and dinin' room; and that one's the settin'
room and parlor; and them two dry-goods boxes with doors to 'em are
bedrooms. There's eight livin' critters to stow away when it's time to
turn in, and one whole bed's took up by the patient. _Where_ do they
put the rest? Hang 'em up on nails?"

The nurse laughed. "Goodness knows!" she said. "He should have been
taken to the hospital. In fact, the doctor and I at first insisted upon
his removal there. He would have been much better off. But neither he
nor his wife would hear of it. She said he would die sure without his
home comforts."

"Humph! I should think more likely he'd die with 'em, or under 'em. I
watch that fleshy wife of his with fear and tremblin'. Every time she
goes nigh the bed I expect her to trip over a young one and fall. And if
she fell on that poor rack-o'-bones," with a wave of the hand toward the
invalid, "'twould be the final smash--like a brick chimney fallin' on a
lath hencoop."

At that moment the "brick chimney" herself entered the rooms and the
nurse accosted her.

"Captain Warren here," she said, "was asking where you all found
sleeping quarters."

Mrs. Moriarty smiled broadly. "Sure, 'tis aisy," she explained. "When
the ould man is laid up we're all happy to be a bit uncomfortable. Not
that we are, neither. You see, sor, me and Nora and Rosy sleep in the
other bed; and Dinnie has a bit of a shakedown in the p