Why was he twittering like an old woman?
Quarrels, fights, and bloodshed were as familiar to him as his daily bread.

With a sudden cry of astonishment he remembered the baby.
The affair of the bricklayer had driven it completely out of his mind.
His thoughts returned to Cardigan Street.

He remembered the quiet room dimly lit with a candle, the dolorous cry of the infant, and the intoxicating touch of its frail body in his arms.
His amazement increased.

What had possessed him to take the brat in his arms and nurse it?
His lips contracted in a cynical grin as he remembered the figure he cut when Chook appeared.

He decided to look on the affair as a joke.