"Then why does he lie like that?"
"I expect it's because he's dead, sir," the child replied, with grave serenity.
This unbiased testimony in favour of his fears came to Julian's mind like a storm.
"How do you know?" he exclaimed, with a harsh voice.
"Lor', sir," the boy said, not without a certain pride, "I knows a corpse when I sees it. My father died come a fortnight ago. See that?"
And he indicated, with stumpy finger, the black band upon his left arm.
"Well, father looked just like the gentleman."
Julian was petrified by this urchin's intimacy with death. It struck him as utterly vicious and terrible. A horror of the rosy-faced little creature, with good-conduct medals gleaming on its breast, came over him.
"Hush!" he said.
"All right, sir; but you take my word for it, the gentleman's dead."