158 Studies in Rat Catching, [ch. ix. 



by perfect love, and will lose the look of 

 suffering and pain. 



The rector, taking off his " sou'-wester " 

 as he entered, turned to the woman with a 

 cheery voice, and said, " Well, Mary, how 

 are you and the boy ? — how are you, my 

 man ? I happened to be passing " (just as if 

 it were quite a common thing for a parson to 

 be out on the loose at one a.m. on a winter's 

 night), " and I thought I would just call in to 

 say that the men at the boats tell me that 

 the bark of this gale is far worse than its 

 bite, and that it is a fair, honest, rattling 

 gale that such good sailors as your husband 

 care nothing for, and that we may expect 

 the boats in with the daylight, so you may 

 keep the pots boiling. But why isn't that 

 youngster snug in bed and asleep ? Oh ! he 

 can't sleep when the wind howls, and Jack 

 is away ! Why, my boy, Jack will laugh at 

 you when he comes home, and say he don't 



