"A h'angel, you fool!" said Burton, with grim scorn; "what have h'angels got to do with the likes of us? It's the devil as we b'longs to, and he'll have his own some day!"
But, at the sound of Burton's voice, the apparition sprang forward and called out joyfully, in accents that were familiar to them all—
"Is that you, Bob? Oh, I am so glad! Come along with me, quick!"
And the desperate man suddenly felt his hard, bony hand clutched by the small, soft fingers of a child.
"Why, if it ain't the little 'un hisself!" cried Sam Black, in a tone of joyful recognition, as he laid his strong hand caressingly on the boy's shoulder.
"How come you here, laddie, all by yourself?" asked Tom Tuffen, stepping forward on the other side.
"Father—come and help father!" was Freddy's only reply, as he caught hold of Tom's arm with his other hand.
"What, is he with you?" cried Burton, with a sudden and terrible change on his worn face, which was instantly answered by a murderous gleam in the eyes of his two comrades.
"The horse came down with us—it took fright at your fire, I think—and my father fell with his leg under it—and I tried to pull him out, and couldn't; so then I ran to fetch help."