The reflection seemed to make him uneasy, and he glanced round the poor room, looking for a place where he might hide his treasure. His eyes fell on the brown horse, and he chuckled.
"She'll always keep that for Gilbert," he said, "and it's not likely to be lost. I'll put it in there."
Having assured himself that his wife was upstairs, he proceeded to carry out his plan. The toy was made of rags, painted and moulded to the shape of a horse. So he made an incision in the belly, and, thrusting in his finger, formed a hole. Then, with a hasty glance round, he opened the red pocket-book and produced therefrom a Bill of Exchange, which he folded up into a compass as small as possible. This he thrust into the hole, pulled the interior stuffing over it, and using his wife's needle, sewed up the hole with considerable despatch and dexterity. A few white threads were still sufficiently noticeable to arouse suspicion, so he rubbed his hand on the sooty grate and blackened the rent. So neatly was all this done that no one would have guessed that the toy had been opened.
Jenner laughed, and tossed the horse on to the table where the child had left it. "That's all right," he said. "She'll never part with anything belonging to the boy."
He looked over the table to see if any food remained. Finding none, he swore a little and sat down by the fire, upon which he had heaped all the fuel he could find. There he brooded, chin in hand, thinking of his past, dreading the days to come.
[CHAPTER II.]
THE STILL FORM IN THE HOUSE.
In a quarter of an hour Mrs. Jenner returned. She looked at the empty table, at the heaped up fuel in the grate, and finally her gaze of loathing and of scorn fell upon the figure by the fire.
"Still the same selfish brute," she said, resuming her seat and her work. "My child and I are almost starving, almost without a fire; yet you devour our small portion and burn our sticks. And why not? What do our pains matter to you, so long as you are comfortable?"
"I have had more discomfort than you," grumbled her husband, avoiding her contemptuous eyes. "Had you been in prison----"