"Let me see," said he, muttering to himself as he paused beside the Marble Arch at Hyde Park, and leaned his head against the railings of that structure; "Mr Auberly has been an' ordered two boys to be sent to him to-morrow forenoon--ha! he! sk!" (the chuckling got the better of him here)--"very good. An' my mother has ordered one o' the boys to go, while a tall fireman has ordered the other. Now, the question is, which o' the two boys am I--the _one_ or the _t'other_--ha! sk! ho! Well, of course, _both_ o' the boys will go; they can't help it, there's no gittin' over that; but, then, which of 'em will git the situation? There's a scruncher for you, Mr Auberly. You'll have to fill your house with tar an' turpentine an' set fire to it over again 'afore you'll throw light on _that_ pint. S'pose I should go in for _both_ situations! It _might_ be managed. The first boy could take a well-paid situation as a clerk, an the second boy might go in for night-watchman at a bank." (Chuckling again interrupted the flow of thought.) "P'raps the two situations might be got in the same place o' business; that would be handy! Oh! if one o' the boys could only be a girl, _what_ a lark that would--sk! ha! ha!" He was interrupted at this point by a shoe-black, who remarked to his companion: "I say, Bob, 'ere's a lark. 'Ere's a feller bin an got out o' Bedlam, a larfin' at nothink fit to burst hisself!" So Willie resumed his walk with a chuckle that fully confirmed the member of the black brigade in his opinion. He went home chuckling and went to bed chuckling, without informing his mother of the cause of his mirth. Chuckling he arose on the following morning, and, chuckling still, went at noon to Beverly Square, where he discovered Mr Auberly standing, gaunt and forlorn, in the midst of the ruins of his once elegant mansion. CHAPTER SIX. "WHEN ONE IS ANOTHER WHO IS WHICH?" "Well, boy, what do you want? Have you anything to say to me?" Mr Auberly turned sharp round on Willie, whose gaze had gone beyond the length of simple curiosity. In fact, he was awe-struck at the sight of such a very tall and very dignified man standing so grimly in the midst of such dreadful devastation. "Please, sir, I was sent to you, sir, by--" "Oh, you're the boy, the son of--that is to say, you were sent to me by your mother," said Mr Auberly with a frown. "Well, sir," replied Willie, hesitating, "I--I--was sent by--by--" "Ah, I see," interrupted Mr Auberly with a smile that was meant to be gracious, "you were sent by a fireman; you are not the--the--I mean you're the _other_ boy." Poor Willie, being of a powerfully risible nature, found it hard to contain himself on hearing his own words of the previous evening re-echoed thus unexpectedly. His face became red, and he took refuge in blowing his nose, during which process--having observed the smile on Mr Auberly's face--he resolved to be "the other boy."