But the trip to York produced no fruit! Some of the tradespeople did, indeed, remember old Mrs Willis and her granddaughter, but had neither seen nor heard of them since they left. They knew very little about them personally, and nothing whatever of their previous history, as they had stayed only a short time in the town, and had been remarkably shy and uncommunicative—the result, it was thought, of their having “come down” in life.

 

Much disappointed, Slidder and I returned to London.

 

“It is fortunate that we did not tell granny the object of our trip, so that she will be spared the disappointment that we have met with,” said I, as the train neared the metropolis.

 

My companion made no reply; he had evidently taken the matter much to heart.

 

We were passing rapidly through the gradually thickening groups of streets and houses which besprinkle the circumference of the great city, and sat gazing contemplatively on back yards, chimney cans, unfinished suburban residences, pieces of waste ground, back windows, internal domestic arrangements, etcetera, as they flew past in rapid succession.

 

“Robin,” said I, breaking silence again, and using the name which had by that time grown familiar, “have you made up your mind yet about taking service with Dr McTougall? Now that we have got Mrs Jones engaged and paid to look after granny, she will be able to get on pretty well without you, and you shall have time to run over and see her frequently.”

 

“H’m! I don’t quite see my way,” returned the boy, with a solemn look. “You see, sir, if it was a page-in-buttons I was to be, to attend on my young lady the guv’ness, I might take it into consideration; but to go into buttons an’ blue merely to open a door an’ do the purlite to wisitors, an’ mix up things with bad smells by way of a change—why, d’ee see, the prospec’ ain’t temptin’. Besides, I hate blue. The buttons is all well enough, but blue reminds me so of the bobbies that I don’t think I could surwive it long—indeed I don’t!”

 

“Robin,” said I reproachfully, “I’m grieved at your indifference to friendship.”

 

“’Ow so, sir?”

 

“Have you not mentioned merely your objections and the disadvantages, without once weighing against them the advantages?”

 

“Vich is—?”

 

“Which are,” said I, “being under the same roof with me and with Punch, to say nothing of your young lady!”

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