Bob flung sixpence on the table.  He was ashamed of himself—­you will not understand him if you fail to recognise that—­but the shame only served to make him fret under his bondage.  Was he going to be tied to Pennyloaf all his life, with a family constantly increasing?  Practically he had already made a resolve to be free before very long; the way was not quite clear to him as yet.  But he went to work still brooding over Clem’s words of the night before.

Pennyloaf let the fire go out, locked the elder child into the room for safety against accidents, and set forth for the hospital.  It rained heavily, and the wind rendered her umbrella useless.  She had to stand for a long time at a street-corner before the omnibus came; the water soaked into her leaky shoes, but that didn’t matter; it was the child on whose account she was anxious.  Having reached her destination, she sat for a long time waiting her turn among the numerous out-patients.  Just as the opportunity for passing into the doctor’s room arrived, a movement in the bundle she held made her look closely at the child’s face; at that instant it had ceased to live.

The medical man behaved kindly to her, but she gave way to no outburst of grief; with tearless eyes she stared at the unmoving body in a sort of astonishment.  The questions addressed to her she could not answer with any intelligence; several times she asked stupidly, ‘Is she really dead?’ There was nothing to wonder at, however; the doctor glanced at the paper on which he had written prescriptions twice or thrice during the past few weeks, and found the event natural enough. . . .

Towards the close of the afternoon Pennyloaf was in Hanover Street.  She wished to see Jane Snowdon, but had a fear of going up to the door and knocking.  Jane might not be at home, and, if she were, Pennyloaf did not know in what words to explain her coming and say what had happened.  She was in a dazed, heavy, tongue-tied state; indeed she did not clearly remember how she had come thus far, or what she had done since leaving the hospital at midday.  However, her steps drew nearer to the house, and at last she had raised the knocker—­just raised it and let it fall.

Mrs. Byass opened; she did not know Pennyloaf by sight.  The latter tried to say something, but only stammered a meaningless sound; thereupon Bessie concluded she was a beggar, and with a shake of the head shut the door upon her.

Pennylcaf turned away in confusion and dull misery.  She walked to the end of the street and stood there.  On leaving home she had forgotten her umbrella, and now it was raining heavily again.  Of a sudden her need became powerful enough to overcome all obstacles; she knew that she must see Jane Snowdon, that she could not go home till she had done so.  Jane was the only friend she had; the only creature who would speak the kind of words to her for which she longed.

Again the knocker fell, and again Mrs. Byass appeared.