m him
to their mother, who had been at work without complaint since morning,
and thought it would be a better and kinder thing to be good-humoured.
So he rocked the cradle with his foot; made a face at the rebel in the
clothes-basket, which put him in high good-humour directly; and stoutly
determined to be talkative and make himself agreeable.

'Ah, mother!' said Kit, taking out his clasp-knife, and falling upon a
great piece of bread and meat which she had had ready for him, hours
before, 'what a one you are! There an't many such as you, I know.'

'I hope there are many a great deal better, Kit,' said Mrs Nubbles;
'and that there are, or ought to be, accordin' to what the parson at
chapel says.'

'Much he knows about it,' returned Kit contemptuously. 'Wait till he's
a widder and works like you do, and gets as little, and does as much,
and keeps his spirit up the same, and then I'll ask him what's o'clock
and trust him for being right to half a second.'

'Well,' said Mrs Nubbles, evading the point, 'your beer's down there by
the fender, Kit.'

'I see,' replied her son, taking up the porter pot, 'my love to you,
mother. And the parson's health too if you like. I don't bear him any
malice, not I!'

'Did you tell me, just now, that your master hadn't gone out to-night?'
inquired Mrs Nubbles.

'Yes,' said Kit, 'worse luck!'

'You should say better luck, I think,' returned his mother, 'because
Miss Nelly won't have been left alone.'

'Ah!' said Kit, 'I forgot that. I said worse luck, because I've been
watching ever since eight o'clock, and seen nothing of her.'

'I wonder what she'd say,' cried his mother, stopping in her work and
looking round, 'if she knew that every night, when she--poor thing--is
sitting alone at that window, you are watching in the open street for
fear any harm should come to her, and that you never leave the place or
come home to your bed though you're ever so tired, till such time as
you think she's safe in hers.'

'Never mind what she'd say,' replied Kit, with something like a blush
on his uncouth face; 'she'll never know nothing, and consequently,
she'll never say nothing.'

Mrs Nubbles ironed away in silence for a minute or two, and coming to
the fireplace for another iron, glanced stealthily at Kit while she
rubbed it on a board and dusted it with a duster, but said nothing
until she had returned to her table again: when, holding the iron at an
alarmingly short distance from h