"You’re a foolish old man!" said Jim. "Never you try on any trick of that sort again--d’you hear?" "Vy didn’t it kill me?" inquired the dealer in an aggrieved voice. "Because what you drank wasn’t poison--luckily for you." "Vould it have been enough if it had been p’ison?" "Yes, enough to kill an elephant." Old Harris shuddered. "Vould it have hurt?" he asked. "It would have burnt your inside up and curled you into a knot. Yes, it would have hurt a bit." Mr Harris shook his head. "It vos Isaac drove me to it. I felt I couldn’t stand that velp no longer--’e drove me to it." Mr Harris looked very bleared. He had swallowed half a pint of neat spirit, and the room seemed to be going round him. "Well," said Jim, "you may thank your stars that wasn’t prussic acid. When you feel better, get along home and turn into bed." "I vill, doctor, I vill," whined the old Jew; "and I’ll pull up--so ’elp me, I vill." "That’s right," said Jim; "now take another nap--it’ll do you good." As Jim turned towards the counter, his eye lighted on a folded piece of paper. Picking it up, he found it to be a note that had been left for him. It ran:-- mrs murphy’s respects and Will the doctor come round to number 8 pine Court to See her baby. top floor. Jim often received such rough missives. This, in fact, was rather a literary performance than otherwise for Pine Court. He tossed the note back on to the counter, buttoned up his overcoat, and sallied forth promptly. He left the light burning, and scribbled "Back soon" on a sheet of paper for Koko’s information. His destination was only seven minutes’ walk distant. Not a soul was to be seen as Jim made his way down the narrow alley by which one reached the court from the street. If it were possible, this place appeared even more forlorn than the outer world. It seemed to Jim, as he passed into No. 8, that the building was curiously silent. As he ascended to the first floor not a sound fell on his ears. The house smelt damp, and had an unoccupied air about it. Could it be that this was the tenement which had been recently condemned as unfit for habitation, owing to its rottenness? If so, why was Mrs Murphy installed on the top floor? Jim knew, however, that it was hard to make some of these wretched beings go, even out of a house such as this. Mrs Murphy would probably be evicted in due course. Meanwhile, her baby was ill, and Jim had got to doctor the little thing. So dark was it that he had to light matches in order to see his way up the creaking staircase. And as he ascended to the second floor he was entirely unconscious of the fact that he was being followed. For behind him, with cunning stealth, crept a man with a bandaged head. [Illustration: BEHIND HIM, WITH CUNNING STEALTH, CREPT A MAN WITH A BANDAGED HEAD.]