There was a half of a ham-bone, and a half loaf of hard bread in
a cupboard, and on the table he found a bottle quite filled with
wretched whiskey. That the police had failed to see the baby had not
appealed to him in any way, but that they should have allowed this
last find to remain unnoticed pleased him intensely, not because it
now fell to him, but because they had been cheated of it. It really
struck him as so humorous that he stood laughing silently for several
minutes, slapping his thigh with every outward exhibition of the
keenest mirth. But when he found that the room and cupboard were bare
of anything else that might be eaten he sobered suddenly. It was very
hot, and though the windows were open, the perspiration stood upon his
face, and the foul close air that rose from the court and street below
made him gasp and pant for breath. He dipped a wash rag in the water
from the spigot in the hall, and filled a cup with it and bathed the
baby's face and wrists. She woke and sipped up the water from the cup
eagerly, and then looked up at him, as if to ask for something more.
Rags soaked the crusty bread in the water, and put it to the baby's
lips, but after nibbling at it eagerly she shook her head and looked
up at him again with such reproachful pleading in her eyes, that Rags
felt her silence more keenly than the worst abuse he had ever
received.
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