t it, that I went straight off to a butcher's
shop and stole a lot o' sasengers; then to a baker's and stole a loaf
the size of a wheel-barrer; then to a grocer's and stole tea an' sugar;
an' the strange thing was that neither the people o' the shops nor the
bobbies seemed to think I was stealin'! Another coorious thing was that
I carried all the things in my pockets--stuffed 'em in quite easy,
though there was 'arf a sack o' coals among 'em!"

"Always the way in dreams," remarked his friend philosophically.

"Yes--ain't it jolly convenient?" continued the other. "Well, w'en I
got to the 'ouse I set to work, made a rousin' fire, put on the kettle,
cooked the wittles as if I'd bin born and bred in a 'otel, and in less
than five minutes 'ad a smokin' dinner on the table, that would 'ave
busted an alderman. In course the Wilkins axed no questions. Father,
mother, five kids, and self all drew in our chairs, and sot down--"

"What fun!" exclaimed Stumpy.

"Ay, but you spoilt the fun, for it was just at that time you shoved
your fist into my ribs, and woke me before one of us could get a bite o'
that grub into our mouths. If we'd even 'ad time to smell it, that
would 'ave bin somethink to remember."

"Howlet," said the other impressively, "d'ye think the Wilkins is livin'
in the same place still?"

"As like as not."

"Could you find it again?"

"Could I find Saint Paul's, or the Moniment? I should think so!"

"Come along, then, and let's pay 'em a wisit."

They were not long in finding the place--a dirty court at the farther
end of a dark passage.

Owlet led the way to the top of a rickety stair, and knocked at one of
the doors which opened on the landing. No answer was returned, but
after a second application of the knuckles, accompanied by a touch of
the toe, a growling voice was heard, then a sound of some one getting
violently out of bed, a heavy tread on the floor, and the door was flung
open.

"What d'ee want?" demanded a fierce, half-drunken man.

"Please, sir, does the Wilkins stop here?"

"No, they don't," and the door was shut with a bang.

"Sweet creature!" observed Stumpy as they turned disappointed away.

"Wonder if his mother 'as any more like 'im?" said Owlet.

"They've 'ad to change to the cellar," said a famished-looking woman,
putting her head out of a door on the same landing. "D'ye want 'em?"

"In course we does, mother, else we wouldn't ax for 'em. W'ereabouts is
the cellar?