Then I went closer still and perceived my folly. The girl was not laughing at all. That which I had supposed to be mirth was really its opposite. The girl was _crying_—crying silently and effectively, and without ostentation. When feminine lamentations are conducted with this sort of restraint there is usually a reason for them. The stupid man spoke to the girl. "Why don’t you take ’eed to what ’Erb says?" he demanded. "Why dontchew go ’ome? There’s sense in what ’Erb says." And then the young man spoke, saying, "That’s right, ole Emma. Come along ’ome, ole Emma." The girl crept closer to the wall, flattened herself against it, as if she sought protection there. "I—I wown’t gow ’owm," she said, between the sobs. "I wown’t move from ’ere, I wown’t, till it’s nine o’clock. The gentleman said, ’Come back at nine o’clock.’ ’Come back at nine o’clock,’ he said. You ’eard what ’e said, ’Erb. I wown’t move from ’ere, I wown’t." ’Erb went closer to her. They were all so occupied with this discussion that I am sure my presence was not observed. It was as though I wore some mantle of invisibility. I could have danced a hornpipe, I believe, without attracting notice.... "What’s the good of talkin’ like that?" said ’Erb to the girl. "Come along ’ome, Emma." "I wown’t move a _step_ from ’ere, I wown’t," responded Emma. "You ’ear what I say? I wown’t move, I tell you. The gentleman said, ’Come back at nine o’clock,’ an’ at nine o’clock I’m goin’ back—to see my baby. "... If you _was_ a man you’d take me over _now_"—she pointed, vaguely, in the direction of Charing Cross Hospital—"you’d take me back and fight ’em, you would, till they let us in. What they want to turn us out till mornin’ for? "I wanter see my baby, I do. My baby’ll die afore it’s morning. "’Come back at nine,’ the gentleman said; and all its pore arm turned stiff, an’ white, an’ swollen. What you wanter move that lamp for, you fool? Why did you open the door? Did you ’ear ’im ’oller? Oh, Christ! did you ’ear ’im ’oller? We’ll lose ’im, ’Erb: my Gawd! we’ll lose ’im. Did you ’ear what the gentleman said? ’Come back at nine to-morrow mornin’,’ ’e said. What’d ’e want to turn us out for, the swine? What you want to go ’owm for? My baby’s _there_, you ape: over there, with the nurse an’ the gentleman. Think I’d go ’owm wiv the likes o’ _you_ an’ leave ’im? What you wanter move that lamp for? Did you see it runnin’ all over ’im, an’ ’im ’ollerin’, an’ cuttin’ ’is feet in the glass of the chimbly? "Did you—did you? Go away, I tell you. I wown’t move, I tell you. The gentleman said, ’Come back at nine.’ What you wanter worry me for? What you wanter stop for? I want my baby—I—I—you makeshift, you, I _’ate_ you." And the young man twisted his cap between his fingers, and drew a little closer to her, and said, "Come along ’ome."