m,
who put both his arms round her, and said:

'Don't be afride, Liza; it's all right.'

At last the men sprang, there was a scuffle, and the wretch was
killed, then came the scene depicted on the posters--the victim's son
knocking at the door, on the inside of which were the murderers and
the murdered man. At last the curtain came down, and the house in
relief burst forth into cheers and cheers; the handsome hero in his
top hat was greeted thunderously; the murdered man, with his clothes
still all disarranged, was hailed with sympathy; and the villains--the
house yelled and hissed and booed, while the poor brutes bowed and
tried to look as if they liked it.

'I am enjoyin' myself,' said Liza, pressing herself quite close to
Jim; 'you are a good sort ter tike me--Jim.'

He gave her a little hug, and it struck her that she was sitting just
as Sally had done, and, like Sally, she found it 'jam'.

The _entr'actes_ were short and the curtain was soon up again, and the
comic man raised customary laughter by undressing and exposing his
nether garments to the public view; then more tragedy, and the final
act with its darkened room, its casting lots, and its explosion.

When it was all over and they had got outside Jim smacked his lips and
said:

'I could do with a gargle; let's go onto thet pub there.'

'I'm as dry as bone,' said Liza; and so they went.

When they got in they discovered they were hungry, and seeing some
appetising sausage-rolls, ate of them, and washed them down with a
couple of pots of beer; then Jim lit his pipe and they strolled off.
They had got quite near the Westminster Bridge Road when Jim suggested
that they should go and have one more drink before closing time.

'I shall be tight,' said Liza.

'Thet don't matter,' answered Jim, laughing. 'You ain't got ter go ter
work in the mornin' an' you can sleep it aht.'

'Arright, I don't mind if I do then, in for a penny, in for a pound.'

At the pub door she drew back.

'I say, guv'ner,' she said, 'there'll be some of the coves from dahn
our street, and they'll see us.'

'Na, there won't be nobody there, don't yer 'ave no fear.'

'I don't like ter go in for fear of it.'

'Well, we ain't doin' no 'arm if they does see us, an' we can go into
the private bar, an' you bet your boots there won't be no one there.'

She yielded, and they went in.

'Two pints of bitter, please, miss,' ordered Jim.

'I say, 'old 'ard. I can't drink more than 'a