"WHEN ONE IS ANOTHER WHO IS WHICH?"
"Well, boy, what do you want? Have you anything to say to me?"
Mr Auberly turned sharp round on Willie, whose gaze had gone beyond the
length of simple curiosity. In fact, he was awe-struck at the sight of
such a very tall and very dignified man standing so grimly in the midst
of such dreadful devastation.
"Please, sir, I was sent to you, sir, by--"
"Oh, you're the boy, the son of--that is to say, you were sent to me by
your mother," said Mr Auberly with a frown.
"Well, sir," replied Willie, hesitating, "I--I--was sent by--by--"
"Ah, I see," interrupted Mr Auberly with a smile that was meant to be
gracious, "you were sent by a fireman; you are not the--the--I mean
you're the _other_ boy."
Poor Willie, being of a powerfully risible nature, found it hard to
contain himself on hearing his own words of the previous evening
re-echoed thus unexpectedly. His face became red, and he took refuge in
blowing his nose, during which process--having observed the smile on Mr
Auberly's face--he resolved to be "the other boy."
"Yes, sir," he said, looking up modestly, "I was sent by a fireman; I
_am_ the other boy."
Mr Auberly smiled again grimly, and said that the fireman was a brave
fellow, and that he had saved his daughter's life, and that he was very
glad to do anything that lay in his power for him, and that he
understood that Willie was the fireman's brother; to which the boy
replied that he was.
"Well, then, come this way," continued Mr Auberly, leading Willie into
the library of the adjoining house, which his friend had put at his
disposal, and seating himself at a writing-table. "You want a situation
of some sort--a clerkship, I suppose?"
Willie admitted that his ambition soared to that tremendous height.
"Let me see," muttered Mr Auberly, taking up a pen and beginning to
write; "yes, she will be able to help me. What is your name, boy?"
"Willie, sir."
"Just so, William; and your surname--your other name?"
"Willders, sir."
Mr Auberly started, and looked Willie full in the eyes. Willie,
feeling that he was playing a sort of double part without being able to
avoid it, grew red in the face.
"What did you say, boy?"
"Willders," replied Willie stoutly.
"Then you're _not_ the other boy," said Mr Auberly, laying down his
pen, and regarding Willie with a frown.
"Please, sir," replied Willie, with a look of meekness which was mingled
with a feeling of desperation, for his desire to laugh was strong upon
him, "please, sir, I don't rightly know _which_ boy I am."
Mr Auberly paused for a moment.
"Boy, you're a fool!"
"Thank 'ee, sir," said Willie.
This reply went a long way in Mr Auberly's mind to prove the truth of
his assertion.
"Answer me, boy," said Mr Auberly with an impressive look and tone;
"were you sent here by a fireman?"
"Yes, sir," replied Willie.
"What is his name?"
"Same as mine, sir--Willders."
"Of course, of course," said Mr Auberly, a little confused at having
put such an unnecessary question. "Does your _mother_ know you're
here?"
This brought the slang phrase, "Does your mother know you're out?" so
forcibly to the boy's mind, that he felt himself swell internally, and
had recourse again to his pocket-handkerchief as a safety-valve.
"Yes, sir," said he, on recovering his composure; "arter I saw Blazes--
Frank, I mean, that's my brother, sir--I goes right away home to bed. I
stops with my mother, sir, an' she saw me come off here this mornin',
sir. She knows I was comin' here."
"Of course; yes, yes, I see," muttered Mr Auberly, again taking up his
pen. "I see; yes, yes; same name--strange coincidence, though; but,
after all, there are many of that name in London. I suppose the _other_
boy will be here shortly. Very odd, very odd indeed."
"Please, sir," observed Willie, in a gentle tone, "you said _I_ was the
other boy, sir."
Mr Auberly seemed a little annoyed at his muttered words being thus
replied to, yet he condescended to explain that there was another boy of
the same name whom he expected to see that morning.
"Oh, then there's _another_ other boy, sir?" said Willie with a look of
interest.
"Hold your tongue!" said Mr Auberly in a sharp voice; "you're a fool,
and you're much too fond of speaking. I advise you to keep your tongue
quieter if you wish to get on in life."
Willie once more sought relief in his pocket-handkerchief, while his
patron indited and sealed an epistle, which he addressed to "Miss
Tippet, Number 6, Poorthing Lane, Beverly Square."
"Here, boy, take this to the lady to whom it is addressed--the lane is
at the opposite corner of the square--and wait an answer."
"Am I to bring the answer back to you, sir?" asked Willie with much
humility.
"No; the answer is for yourself," said Mr Auberly testily; "and hark
'ee, boy, you need not trouble me again. That note will get you all you
desire."
"Thank you, sir," said Willie, making a bow, and preparing to retire;
"but please, sir, I don't very well know, that is to say--ahem!"
"Well, boy?" said the patron sternly.
"Excuse me, sir; I can't help it, you know; but please, sir, I wish to
explain about that other boy--no, that's me, but the _other_ other boy,
you know--"
"Begone, boy!" cried Mr Auberly in a voice so stern that Willie found
himself next moment in the street, along which he ran chuckling worse
than ever.
A little reflection might have opened Mr Auberly's eyes to the truth in
regard to Willie, but a poor relation was to him a disagreeable subject
of contemplation, and he possessed the faculty, in an eminent degree, of
dismissing it altogether from his mind. Having care enough on his mind
at that time, poor man, he deliberately cast the confusion of the two
boys out of his thoughts, and gave himself up to matters more
interesting and personal.
We may add here that Mrs Willders was faithful to her promise, and
never more addressed her brother-in-law by word or letter. When Willie
afterwards told her and Frank of the absurdity of his interview, and of
the violent manner in which Mr Auberly had dismissed him when he was
going to explain about the "other" boy, his mother thought it best to
let things rest as they stood, yet she often wondered in her own quiet
way what Mr Auberly would think of her and of the non-appearance of the
"other" boy; and she felt convinced that if he only put things together
he _must_ come to understand that Willie and Frank were her sons. But
Mrs Willders did not know of the before-mentioned happy facility which
her kinsman possessed of forgetting poor relations; so, after wondering
on for a time, she ceased to wonder or to think about it at all.