The Ruby in the Smoke

Author:Philip Pullman [Pullman, Philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Orphans, Detective and mystery stories
ISBN: 9781407111698
Google: gxkVPwAACAAJ
Publisher: Scholastic
Published: 2009-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

The youth gaped.

"Aha," said Mrs. Holland. "Go on, Mr. Berry, do as yer Hke, only leave him with a voice."

"No! No! Please!" cried Ernie Blackett as Mr. Berry raised his fist. "Here y'are—take 'em! Take 'em!"

He scrabbled at a pocket and threw down three or four scraps of paper and then turned away, shaking. Mrs. Holland snatched them up and scanned them while Mr. Berry waited.

She looked up. "Is that all? Nothing else?"

"Not a bleedin' thing, I swear it! Honest!"

"Ah, but you ain't honest," said Mrs. Holland severely. "That's the trouble. Well, come on, Mr. Berry. We'll take the pistol, to remind us of our good friend Henry Hopkins. Deceased."

She hobbled to the door and waited on the malodorous landing while Mr. Berry spoke to their host.

"I don't like to see a young man of your age drinking,'* he said solemnly. "It's the young man's ruin, drink is. I could tell you was drunk as soon as I come in. The smallest glass of drink is the first step on the road to madness, hallucinations, softening of the brain, and moral decay. It'd break your heart to know how many men's lives have been ruined through drink. Keep off it, is my advice. Go and sign the pledge, like I done. You'll be a better man for it. Here—" He fumbled at an inside pocket. "I'll leave you a useful tract, what'U help you improve. It's called *The Drunkard's Lament, by One Who Has Seen the Blessed Light.' "

He tucked the precious document into Ernie Blackett's nerveless hand and joined Mrs. Holland on the stairs.

"That it, Mrs. Holland?"

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