the christmas week passed by, and the new year came in, cold and bleak, but tony was well secured against the weather, and liked the frosty air, which made it pleasant to run as fast as he could from place to place as he delivered his parcels. when boxing day came, which was half-holiday for him, he returned to the house at mid-day, carrying with him three mince-pies, which he had felt himself rich enough to buy in honour of the holiday. he had for a long time been reckoning upon shutting up shop for the whole afternoon, and upon going out for a long stroll through the streets with old oliver and dolly; and now that the hour was positively come he felt very light-hearted and full of spirits, defying the wind which wrestled with him at every turn. dolly must be wrapped up well, he said to himself, and old oliver must put on his drab great coat, with mother o' pearl buttons, which he had brought up from the country forty years ago, and which was still good for keeping out the cold. he ran down the alley, and passed through the shop whistling cheerily, and disdaining to lift the flap of the counter, he took a running vault over it, and landed at once inside the open kitchen-door.
but there was old oliver sitting close to the fire, with dolly on his knee, and her little head lying upon his breast, while the tears trickled slowly down his furrowed cheeks on to her pretty curls. beppo was standing between his legs, licking dolly's small hand, which hung languidly by her side. her eyelids were closed, and her face was deadly white; but when tony uttered a great cry of trouble, and fell on his knees before her, she opened her heavy eyes, and stretched out her cold thin hand to stroke his cheeks. "dolly's so very ill, tony," she murmured, "poor dolly's very ill indeed."
"i don't know whatever is the matter with my little love," said the old man, in a low and trembling voice; "she fell down all of a sudden, and i thought she was dead, tony; but she's coming round again now. isn't my little love better now?"
"yes, gan-pa, yes; dolly's better," she answered faintly.
"let me hold her, master," said tony, his heart beating fast; "i can hold her stronger and more comfortable, maybe, than you. you're tired ever so, and you'd better get yourself a bit of dinner. shall tony nurse you now, dolly?"
the little girl raised her arms to him, and tony took her gently into his own, sitting down upon the old box in the chimney-corner, and putting her to nestle comfortably against him. dolly closed her eyes again, and by-and-bye he knew that she had fallen into a light sleep, while old oliver moved noiselessly to and fro, only now and then saying half aloud, in a tone of strange earnestness and entreaty, "lord! dear lord!"
after awhile the old man came and bent over them both, taking dolly's arm softly between his withered fingers, and looking down at it with a shaking head.
"she's very thin, tony; look at this little arm," he said, "wasting away! wasting away! i've watched all my little ones waste away except my poor susan. couldn't there anything be done to save her?"
"ay!" answered tony, in an energetic whisper, while he clasped dolly a little tighter in his arms; "ay! they could cure her easily at the hospital. bless yer! there were little 'uns ten times worse than her as they sent home cured. let us take her there as soon as ever she wakes up, and she'll be quite well directly, i promise you. the doctor knows me, and i'll speak to mr. ross for her. do you get a bit of dinner, and hearten yourself up for it; and we'll set off as soon as she's awake."
old oliver turned away comforted, and prepared his own and tony's dinner, and put a mince-pie into the oven to be ready to tempt dolly's appetite when she awoke. but she slept heavily all the afternoon till it was almost dark outside, and the lamps were being lit, when she awoke, restless and feverish.
"would dolly like to go to that nice place, where the little girls had the dolls and the music?" asked tony, in a quavering voice which he could scarcely keep from sobs; "the good place where tony got well again, and they gave him his new clothes? everybody 'ud be so wery kind to poor little dolly, and she'd come home again, quite cured and strong, like tony was."
"yes, yes!" cried, dolly, eagerly, raising herself up in his arms; "it's a nice place, and the sun shines, and dolly 'ud like to go. only she'll be sure to come back to gan-pa."
it was some time yet before they were quite ready to start, though dolly could not be coaxed to eat the hot mince-pie, or anything else. old oliver had to get himself into his drab overcoat, and the ailing child had to be protected in the best way they could against the searching wind. after they had put on all her own warmest clothing, tony wrapped his own thick blue jacket about her, and lifting her very tenderly in his arms, they turned out into the streets, closely followed by beppo.
it was now quite night, but the streets were well lighted from the shop windows, and throngs of people were hurrying hither and thither; for it was boxing-night, and all the lower classes of the inhabitants were taking holiday. but old oliver saw and heard nothing of the crowd. he walked on by tony's side; with feeble and tottering steps, deaf and blind, but whispering all the while, with trembling lips, to one whom no one else could see or hear. once or twice tony saw a solemn smile flit across his face, and he nodded his head and raised his hand, as one who gives his assent to what is said to him. so they passed on through the noisy streets till they reached quieter ones, were there were neither shops nor many passers-by, and there they found the home where they were going to leave their treasure for a time.
