, »I'll knock yer 'ed orff!« To »I shall be very angry with
you« in the one sphere, corresponds in the other, »I'll murder you!« These are
conventions - matters of no importance. But Mr. Hope was a man of individuality;
he could make his family tremble; he could bring lodgers about the door to
listen and admire his resources.
    In another room abode a mother with four children. This woman drank
moderately, but was very conscientious in despatching her three younger children
to school. True, there was just a little inconvenience in this punctuality of
hers, at all events from the youngsters' point of view, for only on the first
three days of the week had they the slightest chance of a mouthful of breakfast
before they departed. »Never mind, I'll have some dinner for you,« their parent
was wont to say. Common enough in the Board schools, this pursuit of knowledge
on an empty stomach. But then the end is so inestimable!
    Yet another home. It was tenanted by two persons only; they appeared to be
man and wife, but in the legal sense were not so, nor did they for a moment seek
to deceive their neighbours. With the female you are slightly acquainted;
christened Sukey Jollop, she first became Mrs. Jack Bartley, and now, for
courtesy's sake, was styled Mrs. Higgs. Sukey had strayed on to a downward path;
conscious of it, she abandoned herself to her taste for strong drink, and braved
out her degradation. Jealousy of Clem Peckover was the first cause of discord
between her and Jack Bartley; a robust young woman, she finally sent Jack about
his business by literal force of arms, and entered into an alliance with Ned
Higgs, a notorious swashbuckler, the captain of a gang of young ruffians who at
this date were giving much trouble to the Clerkenwell police. Their speciality
was the skilful use, as an offensive weapon, of a stout leathern belt heavily
buckled; Mr. Higgs boasted that with one stroke of his belt he could, if it
seemed good to him, kill his man, but the fitting opportunity for this display
of prowess had not yet offered. ...
    Now it happened that, at the time of her making Jane Snowdon's acquaintance,
Miss Lant was particularly interested in Shooter's Gardens and the immediate
vicinity. She had associated herself with certain ladies who undertook the
control of a soup-kitchen in the neighbourhood, and as the winter advanced she
engaged Jane in this work