But by the time he had reached the riverside street to which his steps were directed, even a chance passer-by was a rarity; and the gas-lamps had become so few and far between that no notice would have been taken of him if the traffic had been greater.

His footsteps echoed in the silent street until he reached the wooden door which was the entrance by night to Plumtree Wharf.

The door was shut, and Dudley, apparently surprised by the circumstance, gave it an impatient shake.  Then he heard a slight sound within which told him of the approach of some living creature, and the next moment the door was opened a few inches, and the face of Mrs. Higgs appeared at the aperture.

She uttered a little mocking laugh when she saw who her visitor was and let him in without any other comment.

Dudley strode in, with a frown of displeasure on his face, and waited under the piles of timber while Mrs. Higgs relocked the door.  There was a lamp just outside the wooden boarding which shut the wharf in, and by the light of it Dudley got a good look at the old woman’s face before she rejoined him; and it seemed to him that the placid expression she usually wore had given place to a look more sinister, more repellent.  She passed him, still without a word, but with a nod which he took for an invitation to him to follow her.  They passed through the little wash-house into the inner room, and Mrs. Higgs seated herself by the fire, and gave her visitor another nod to imply that he might be seated also.

But Dudley was not in a friendly mood.  He would not even come near the hearth, but remained close to the door by which he had entered, and gave searching look round the room.

The apartment was so small and so bare that it was not difficult to take stock of its contents, and Mrs. Higgs laughed ironically.

“Isn’t the place furnished to your liking?” she asked in a mocking tone.  “Are you looking for the sofas and the sideboards and the silver and the plate?”

Dudley cast at the old woman a look which was more eloquent than he knew of hatred and disgust.

“No,” said he, shortly.  “I was looking to see whether any of your precious pals were about.”

Mrs. Higgs drew her chair nearer to the deal table, and leaning on it with her head resting in her hands, stared at him malignantly.

“My precious pals!  My precious pals!” muttered she to herself in an angry tone.  “That’s the way he talks to me!  To me, he owes so much to!  Ah!  Ah!  Ah!”

These three last ejaculations were uttered with so much suppressed passion, and there gleamed in her dull eyes such a dull look of stupid ferocity, that Dudley withdrew his attention from the cupboard and walls and transferred it wholly to her.  After a pause, during which the two seemed to measure each other with cautious eyes, he said, abruptly: 

“Do you know why I have come here to-night?”