"i'll learn yeh, y' little wretch!"
"oowh! don't—don't!"
the lady, savagely wielding a decayed carpet-beater, bent over the shrinking form of the child—a little storm of short skirts and black hair. her arm ached and her face steamed, but she continued to shower blows wherever she could get them in, until suddenly the storm limply subsided into a small figure which doubled up and fell.
a step sounded in the doorway, and the lady looked up, frayed at the edges and panting. a small, slight man, in semi-official dress, stood just inside the room, which gave directly on to a byway of homerton.
"na then, feet—mind yer dirty boots on my carpet, cancher? what's the——"
"n.s.p.c.c.," replied feet. he stooped over the child, lifted her, and set her on a slippery sofa. "had my eye on you for some time. thought there were something dicky with this child."
[pg 114]
"'ere, look 'ere—i mean, can't 'er muvver 'it 'er——"
"steady, please. let me warn you——"
the lady threatened with glances, but kids' man met them.
she fumed. "ow! you waltz in, do yeh? well, strikes me yeh'll waltz out quicker'n yeh came in. 'ere—arfer!" her raucous voice scraped up the narrow stairway leading from the room, and in answer came a misty voice, suggesting revelries by night. the lady roared again: "ar-ferr! get up an' come daown. 'ere's a little swab insultin' yer wife! kids' man insultin' yer wife!"
kids' man made no move, but stood over the sofa with sober face, ministering to the heavily breathing bundle. overhead came bumps and a prayer for delivery from women.
then on the lower step of the stairway appeared a symbol of aurora in velveteen breeches and a shirt of indeterminate colour. his braces hung dolefully at the rear as he bleared on the situation. his furry head moved from side to side. "wodyeh want me t'do?"
"cosh 'im! insultin' yer wife!"
[pg 115]
he stared. then his lip moved and he grinned. he hitched up his trousers, belted them with braces, and expectorated on both hands with gusto. "git aout, else i'll split yer faice!"
no answer. "righto!" he descended from the stair, and, hands down, fists closed, chin protruded, advanced on the bending inspector with that slow, insidious movement proper to street-fighters. "won't git aout, woncher? grrr—yeh!"
kids' man looked up and met him with a steady stare. but the stare annoyed him, so he lifted up his fist and smote kids' man between the eyes. then things happened. he towered over the inspector. "want another?" the inspector lifted a short and apparently muscleless arm.
bk! aurora reeled as the fist met his jaw, and was followed by a swift one under the ear. for a moment astonishment seemed to hold him as he bleared at the slight figure; then he seemed about to burst with wrath; then he became a cold sportsman. the wife screamed for aid.
"aoutside—come on!" he shoved kids' man before him into the walk, which, torpid a moment ago, now flashed with life and movement.[pg 116] quickly the auditorium was filled with a moist, unlovely crowd of sloppy rags and towzled heads. while kids' man ministered to his nose, arfer hitched his trousers, fingered his shirt-sleeves, and talked in staccato to his seconds, about a dozen in number. the crowd grunted and grinned. it seemed evident that kids' man was about to get it in the neck. one or two went to his side as he quietly turned back his sleeves, not for purposes of encouragement, but merely in order to preserve the correct niceties of the scrap.
a light tap on the body from either party, and then more things happened. "go it, arfer, flatten 'im! cosh 'im! rip 'im back, arfer. give 'im naughty-naughty, arfer!"
but, as the crowd scraped and shuffled this way and that, they gave a panicky clearing to a spry retreat by kids' man. he was done for; arfer was chasing him. they capered and chi-iked. then, with a smart turn, he landed beautifully on the point, and sent the pursuing arfer flat to the ground. the crowd murmured and oathfully exhorted arfer to fink what he was doin' of. flatten the kids' man—that was his job. they met again, and this time the society received one on the mouth and another on the[pg 117] nose. he sat heavily down, and his seconds flashed wet handkerchiefs. the crowd cheered. "'ad enough?"
but with a sudden spurt he came up again. his right landed on arfer's nose, a natty upper-cut followed it. he got in another with his right, and pressed his man. the lady screamed, and disregarding the ethics of the ring, splurged in and seized the society's coat-tails. but the crowd begged her to desist. then the child, who, with the toughness of her class, had found her legs again, flitted fearfully about the fringe of the crowd.
"wade in, mister! 'it the old woman—fetch 'er a swipe across the snitch!"
now kids' man began to take an interest in the affair. dodging a swinging blow of his lumbering opponent, he got in a half-arm jab. they closed, and embraced each other, and swayed, and the crowd chanted "dear old pals." for a moment they strained; then kids' man lifted his enemy bodily held him, and with a peculiar twist dropped him. he lay still....
a murmur of wonder swelled quickly to a broad roar. the crowd surged in, squirming and hustling. for a moment it seemed that kids' man[pg 118] would get torn. it was just a hair's-breadth question between lynching and triumphal chairing. the sporting spirit prevailed, and: "raaay! good on yeh, mate! well done th' s'ciety!" the lads swung in and gathered admiringly around the victor, who tenderly caressed a damaged beetroot of a face, while half a dozen helpers impeded each other's efforts to render first aid to the prostrate arfer.
"where's the blankey twicer? lemme git 'old of 'im. lemme git 'old of 'im!" implored the lady. but she was no longer popular, and they hustled her aside, so that in impotent rage she smote her prostrate husband with her foot for failing to uphold her honour before a measly little kids' man what she could have torn in two wiv one hand.
"well, 'e's gotter nerve, ain't 'e?"
"firs' chap ever i knew stand up t'old arfer. fac'!"
"yerce—'e's—e's gotter nerve!"
"tell yeh what i say, boys—three cheers for th' kids' man!"
and as the bruised and discoloured kids' man gripped the hand of orphan dora and led her, brave with new importance, from the walk to[pg 119] headquarters, a round of beery cheering made sweet music in their rear.
"well, fancy a little chap like that.... well, 'e's gotter blasted nerve!"
* * * * *
the kids' man. that is his title—used sometimes affectionately and sometimes bitterly. he is the children's champion, and often he is met with curses, and that plea of parenthood which is supposed to justify all manner of gross and unnameable abominations: "can't a farver do what he likes wiv his own child?"
the society employs two hundred and fifty inspectors, whose work is to watch over the welfare of the children in their allotted district. but, since most ill-treatment takes place behind closed doors, it is difficult for an outsider to obtain direct evidence, and neighbours, even when they know that children are being starved and daily tortured, are shy of lodging information, lest it may lead to the publicity of the police-court and the newspapers, and subsequently to open permanent enmity from the people next whom they have to live.
the kids' man is usually an old army or navy man, accustomed to making himself heard,[pg 120] and able to hold his own. the chief qualities for such a post are: a real love of children; tact and knowledge of men; and ability to deal with a hostile reception. it is by no means pleasant, as you have seen, to pay a warning visit to a house up a narrow alley, whose inhabitants form something of a clan or freemasonry lodge.
the motto of the society, however, is persuasion. prosecutions are extremely distasteful, and are only used when all other means have failed. in any case that comes to the inspector's knowledge, his first thought is the children's well-being. if they are being starved, he provides them with food, clothes, bedding and baths, or sees that the parish does so without any of the delays incident to parish charity. then he has a quiet talk with the parents, and gives a warning. usually this is enough. in cases where the neglect is due to lack of work, he is sometimes an employment agency, and finds work for the father. but, if necessary, there are more warnings, and then, with great reluctance, an appearance in court is called for.
cruelty is of two kinds—active and passive. the passive cruelty is the cruelty of neglect—lack of proper food, clothing, sanitation, etc. the other kind—the active cruelty of a diabolical [pg 121]nature—comes curiously enough, not so much from the lower, but from the upper classes. it is seldom that the rough navvy is deliberately cruel to his children; but inspectors can tell you some appalling stories of torture inflicted on children by leisured people of means and breeding. among their convictions are doctors, lawyers, clergymen, and many women of position.
there was one terrible case of a woman in county society—you will remember her cornish name—who had been guilty of atrocious cruelty to a little girl of twelve. the kids' man called. the woman maintained that a mother had a perfect right to correct her own child. she called the child and fondled it to prove that rumour of tortures was wrong. but the kids' man knows children; and the look in the child's eyes told him of terrorizing. he demanded a medical examination.
the case was proved in court. a verdict of "guilty" was given. and the punishment for this fair degenerate—￡50 fine! the punishment for the kids' man was a kind of social ostracism. there lies the difficulty of the work. the woman's position had saved her.
the kids' man needs to have his eyes open[pg 122] everywhere and at every time for signs of suffering among the little ones. and often, where a father won't listen to advice from him, he is found amenable to suggestions from mrs. inspector.
in every big town in this country you will find the n.s.p.c.c. bureau, but, in spite of their efforts, too much cruelty is going on that might be stopped if the british people, as a race, were not too fond of "minding their own business" and shutting their eyes to everyday evils.
if you still think england a christian and enlightened country, you had better accompany an n.s.p.c.c. man on his daily round. before you do so, inspect the record at their offices. read the verbatim reports of some of their cases. look at their "museum" which mr. parr, the secretary, will show you; a museum more hideous than any collection of inquisition relics or than anything in the tower. you will then know something of the hideous conditions of child-life in "this england of ours," and you will be prepared for what you shall see on your tour with the kids' man.
