Gate.

Neither of them ever thought of appealing to their father, either for
advice or for help. He remained, as he had always been to them, utterly
colourless; a kind of well-bred shadow of his wife, taking no part in
her hard treatment of Cecilia, but lifting not a finger to save her. He
did not look happy; indeed, he seldom spoke--it was not necessary,
when Mrs. Rainham held the floor. He had a tiny den which he used as a
smoking-room, and there he spent most of his time when at home, being
blessed in the fact that his wife disliked the smell of smoke, and
refused to allow it in her drawing-room. Nobody took much notice of him.
The younger children treated him with cool indifference; Bob met him
with a kind of strained and uncomfortable civility.

Curiously enough, it was only Eliza who divined in him a secret
hankering after his eldest daughter--Cecilia, who would have been very
much astonished had anyone hinted at such a thing to her. The sharp eyes
of the little Cockney were not to be deceived in any matter concerning
the only person in the house who treated her as if she were a human
being and not a grate-cleaning automaton.

"You see 'im foller 'er wiv 'is eyes, that's all," said Eliza to
Cook, in the privacy of their joint bedroom. "Fair 'ungry he looks,
sometimes."

"No need for 'im to be 'ungry, if 'e 'ad the sperrit of a man," said
Cook practically. "Ain't she 'is daughter?"

"Well, yes, in a manner of speakin'," said Eliza doubtfully. "But there
ain't much of father an' daughter about them two. I'd ruther 'ave my
ole man, down W'itechapel way; 'e can belt yer a fair terror, w'en 'e's
drunk, but 'e'll allers tike yer out an' buy yer a kipper arterwards.
Thet's on'y decent, fatherly feelin'."

"Well, Master don't belt 'er, does 'e?"

"No; but 'e don't buy 'er the kipper, neither. An' I'd ruther 'ave the
beltin' from my ole man, even wivout no kipper, than 'ave us allers
lookin' at each other as if we was wooden images. Even a beltin' shows
as 'ow a man 'as some regard for 'is daughter."

"It do," said Cook. "Pity is, you ain't 'ad more of it, that's the only
thing!"

CHAPTER III

PLAYING TRUANT

"Demobilized! Oh, Bob--truly?"

"Truly and really," said Bob. "At least, I shall be in twenty-seven
days. Got my orders. Show up for the last time on the fifteenth of next
month. Get patted on the head, and told to run away and play. That's the
programme, I believe, Tommy. The question is--What s