"On'y me, sir; on'y Sarah. Don't be afear'd. I ain't a larrikin. Help this 'ere box on my back like a good chummie."
"It's too heavy for your slight shoulders," quoth gallant Archie. "I don't mind carrying it a bit."
"What, a gent like you! Why, sir, you're greener than they make 'em round here!"
"I'm from England."
"Ho, ho! Well, that accounts for the milk. So 'm I from Hengland. This way, chummie."
They hadn't far to go.
"My missus lives two story up, top of a ware'us, and I've been to the station for that 'ere box. She do take it out o' me for all the wage. She do."
Archie carried the box up the steep stairs, and Sarah's mistress herself opened the door and held a candle. A thin, weary-looking body, with whom Sarah seemed to be on the best and most friendly terms.
"Brought my young man," said Sarah. "Ain't he a smartie? But, heigho! so green! You never!"
"Come in a minute, sir, and rest you. Never mind this silly girl."