"But it ain't nearly so big as Chester race-course. A regular cockpit of a place is the Chester course; and not every horse can get round it."
Turning to the right and leaving the Rye behind them, they ascended a long, monotonous, and very ugly road composed of artificial little houses, each set in a portion of very metallic garden. These continued all the way to the top of a long hill, straggling into a piece of waste ground where there were some trees and a few rough cottages. A little boy came running towards them, stumbling over the cinder heaps and the tin canisters with which the place was strewn, and William felt that that child was his.
"That child will break 'is blooming little neck if 'e don't take care," he remarked tentatively.
She hated him to see the child, and to assert her complete ownership she clasped Jackie to her bosom without a word of explanation, and she questioned the child on matters about which William knew nothing.
William stood looking tenderly on his son, waiting for Esther to introduce them. Mother and child were both so glad in each other that they forgot the fine gentleman standing by. Suddenly the boy looked towards his father, and she repented a little of her cruelty.
"Jackie," she said, "do you know who this gentleman is who has come to see you?"
"No, I don't."
She did not care that Jackie should love his father, and yet she could not help feeling sorry for William.
"I'm your father," said William.
"No, you ain't. I ain't got no father."