'I have brought you two babies, Miss St. John,' said Falconer. 'Can you take them?'
'To be sure I can,' she answered, and turned to lead the way. 'Bring them in.'
We followed her into a little back room. She put down her candle, and went straight to the cupboard, whence she brought a sponge-cake, from which she cut a large piece for each of the children.
'What a mercy they are, Robert,—those little gates in the face! Red Lane leads direct to the heart,' she said, smiling, as if she rejoiced in the idea of taming the little wild angelets. 'Don't you stop. You are tired enough, I am sure. I will wake my maid, and we'll get them washed and put to bed at once.'
She was closing the door, when Falconer turned.
'Oh! Miss St. John,' he said, 'I was forgetting. Could you go down to No. 13 in Soap Lane—you know it, don't you?'
'Yes. Quite well.'
'Ask for a girl called Nell—a plain, pock-marked young girl—and take her away with you.'
'When shall I go?'
'To-morrow morning. But I shall be in. Don't go till you see me. Good-night.'