Page:A Child of the Jago - Arthur Morrison.djvu/154

This page has been validated.

A CHILD OF THE JAGO

runnin' away. Wot! After me a-takin' you in when you was 'ungry, an' givin' you cawfy an' cake, an' good advice like a father, an' a bloater an' all, and you owin' me thrippence 'a'peny besides, then you goes an'—an takes your findin's somewhere else!"

"I never!" protested Dicky stoutly, but Mr. Weech's cunning, equal to a shrewd guess that since his last visit Dicky had probably had another "find," and quick to detect a lie, was slack to perceive a truth.

"Now, don't you go an' add on a wicked lie to your sinful ungratefulness, wotever you do," he said severely, "that's wuss, and I alwis know. Doncher know the little 'ymn?:—

'An' 'im as does one fault at fust
An' lies to 'ide it, makes it two!'

It's bad enough to be ungrateful to me as is bin so kind to you, an' it's wuss to break the fust commandment. If the

138