Another fit of silence fell upon them, and Tony left them together, for it was time to put up the shop shutters.  It seemed just like the night when he had followed Susan and the little girl, and loitered outside in the doorway opposite, to see what would happen after she had left her in the shop.  He fancied he was a ragged, shoeless boy again, nobody loving him, or caring for him, and that he saw old Oliver and Dolly standing on the step, looking out for the mother, who had gone away, never, never to see her darling again.  Tony’s heart was very full; and when he tried to whistle, he was obliged to give it up, lest he should break out into sobs and crying.  When he went back into the house Raleigh was talking again.

“So Susan and me are to have one of the lodges of the colonel’s park,” he said, “and I’m to be a sort of bailiff to look after the other outdoor servants about the garden and premises.  It’s a house with three bedrooms, and a very pleasant sort of little parlour, as well as a kitchen and scullery place downstairs.  You can see the Wrekin from the parlour window, and the moon over it; and it’s not so far away but what we could get a spring-cart sometimes, and drive over to your old home under the Wrekin.  As soon as ever the colonel’s lady told Susan where it was, she cried out, ‘That’s the very place for father!’ You’d like to come and live with your own Susan again, in your own country; wouldn’t you now?”

“Yes, yes; for a little while,” answered old Oliver, with a smile upon his face.

Tony felt a strange and very painful shrinking at his heart.  If the old man went away to live with his daughter in the country, his home would be lost to him, and he would have to go out into the great city again alone, with nobody to love.  He could get his living now in a respectable manner, and there was no fear of his being driven to sleep in Covent Garden, or under the bridges.  But he would be alone, and all the links which bound him to Dolly and old Oliver would be snapped asunder.  He wondered if the Lord Jesus would let such a thing be.

“But I couldn’t leave Tony,” cried old Oliver, suddenly; and putting on his spectacles to look for him.

“Come here, Tony.  He’s like my own son to me, bless him!  He calls me grandfather, and kept my heart up when I should have sunk very low without him.  My Master gave him to me the very same night he gave me my little love.  No, no; Dolly loved Tony, and Susan must come here to see me, but I could never leave my boy.”

Old Oliver had put his arm round Tony, drawing him closer and closer to him as he spoke, until his withered cheek pressed fondly against his face.  Since Dolly died neither of them had felt such a thrill of happiness as now.

“The colonel and his lady must be told about this,” said Raleigh, after he had heard all that Tony had been and done for old Oliver; and when he was obliged to go away for the night, the soldier gave him such a cordial grasp of the hand, as set all his fingers tingling, and his heart throbbing with exultation.