“Well, there!” said Mrs. Briggs.  “I might ‘a’ known.  Pore mother was frit to death o’ he.  ’There’s black magic in ‘im’ she says to me.  It was the day as she was took, too.  ‘Black magic,’ she says.  ’I’ve a-begged ‘im to let me die easy, but Lor’ bless yer, ’e don’t take no more notice than if ‘e were the Spink,’” Mrs. Briggs glanced over her shoulder.  “But there’s one thing as you’ll both be glad to know,” she said, lowering her voice confidentially, “she died easy, pore soul, in spite of ’im.  ’E don’t know ’ow that was.”

“What?” gasped both girls in a breath.

Mrs. Briggs went to the door, peered out, softly closed it.  Her eyes shone craftily as she returned.  She took up her rolling-pin, holding it impressively between her floury hands.

“Two days afore pore mother went,” she began, with an air of gruesome mystery, “Dr. Wyndham, ’e came and examined ’er, and ’urt ’er cruel, ’e did.  I thought ’e’d ’ave killed ’er afore ’e’d finished.  Well, just afore ’e left, ’e come to me with a dark blue bottle, and ’e says:  ’Look ‘ere, Mrs. Briggs, she won’t last out the week.  She’s quiet now,’ ’e says, ’for I’ve given ’er a dose as’ll last for some hours.  But when that’s exhausted,’ ’e says, ‘the pain’ll come back.  And so I’m goin’ to give you this.’  ’E ’olds it up to the light, and looks at it.  ’It’s good stuff,’ ’e says.  ’It’s warranted to kill pain.  But it ain’t a thing to play with.  You give ‘er a teaspoon of it,’ ’e says, ’but only if she’s took with bad pain.  But she mustn’t ’ave more than one in twenty-four hours,’ ’e says.  ’You mind that.  And if you ’ave to give it to ’er, you send at once for me.  If you don’t send,’ ’e says, ’I won’t be ’eld responsible for the consequences.’  With that ’e goes, and pore mother she seemed to take a turn, and all that day and the next she seemed to drowse like and not take much notice o’ things.  The neighbours come in and look at ’er, but she didn’t seem to know.  We ’ad two quiet nights with ’er, and then all of a sudden in the middle of the afternoon she started screamin’ and writhin.’  Oh, lor, Miss Olga, you never see the like.  It was just as if she were bein’ tortured over a slow fire.  Well, Briggs, ’e was fair unmanned by it.  ’For ‘eaven’s sake,’ ’e says, ’give ’er the medicine as the doctor left, and I’ll go and tell ’im as you’ve done it.’  And off ‘e goes, though it was gettin’ latish and no one to attend to the bar.  Well, I fetched the medicine, and I took it to ’er, and I says, ‘’Ere you are, mother,’ I says, ’you ‘ave a dose o’ this.  It’ll kill the pain.’  I gave it ’er in a teaspoon like ’e said, and she took it.  But there, it didn’t make no more difference to ’er than if it ‘ad been water.’” Mrs. Briggs heaved a sob, and picked up a corner of her apron to wipe her eyes.  “I told ’er as I dursn’t give ’er any more because of what the doctor ’ad said, and I said as ’ow Briggs ’ad gone for him, and ’e’d know ’ow to quiet ’er when ’e came.