Liza of Lambeth

e rubbed her eyes to gather her senses together and gradually she remembered having gone to the theatre on the previous evening; then suddenly everything came ba

r nightdress, she looked at her own thin arms, just two pieces of bone with not a muscle on them, but very white and showing distinctly the interlacement of blue veins: she did not notice that her hands were rough, and red and dirty with the nails broken, and bitten to the quick. She got out of bed and

end of the mantelpiece were pink jars with blue flowers on the front; round the top in Gothic letters of gold was inscribed: 'A Present from a Friend'-these were products of a later, but not less artistic age. The intervening spaces were taken up with little jars and cups and saucers-gold inside, with a view of a town outside, and surrounding them, 'A Present from Clacton-on-Sea,' or, alliteratively, 'A Memento of Margate.' Of these many were broken, but they had been mended with glue, and it is well known that pottery in the eyes of the connoisseur loses none of its value by a crack or two. Then there were portraits innumerable-little yellow cartes-de-visite in velvet frames, some of which were decorated with shells; they showed strange people with old-fashioned clothes, the women with bodices and sleeves fitting close to the figure, stern-featured females with hair carefully pa

defiance of a band of advancing Arabs; there was a 'Cherry Ripe,' almost black with age and dirt; there were two almanacks several years old, one with a coloured portrait of the Marquess of Lorne, very handsome and elegant

bed there was nothing but two kitchen chairs and a lamp. Liza looked at it all and felt perfectly satisfied; she put a pin into one corner of the noble Marquess to prevent him from falling, fidd

playing cricket an

ply,'

hem in delight; and the captain added: '

iza, indignantly. 'When I ply

n' at?' replied the captain, who had taken advantage of his p

shan't ply,'

o in!' shouted two or t

n long, I lay,' he said, as he sent the old bowler fielding and took the ball h

anded in the pile of coats which formed the wicket. The captain came

id; 'thet was

al,' answered the c

said it just as the ball w

sted!' repeate

d as she felt very kindly disposed to the world

'Come an' give us a bal

aht, any'ow,' s

square. But a trial ball-well, one don't

ng her bat round and hit mightily; she ran well, too, and pantin

y givin' 'er lobs; 'e's no

poilin' o

s more than you could do. I'll go aht now

game went on, they commenced talking, Liza leaning against the wall

yerself, Tom? I ain't see

al; an' I've seen you w

ome up and said good mo

ter force mysel

a bloomin' cuck

like me 'angin' roun

Yer don't think I'd 'ave come aht beanf

whole world, and of course Tom came in with the others. She looked very kindly at hi

ming out of the door a girl of about her own age;

, 'thet ain't Blakest

thet'

,' said Liza, leaving Tom

lakeston, ain't

e!' said

r, Polly, do yer?" says 'e. "Na," says I, "I don't." "Well," says '

thin' of 'er in me. Dad says it's lucky it ain'

oth la

asked Liza, looking at the

for dinner. Father 'ad a bit of luck last night, 'e says,

with yer if

came to a stall where an Italian was selling the required commodity, and having had a taste apiece to see if they lik

looking up the st

e's f

ddenly a sense of shame came over her, and casting d

gettin' on.' And before Polly could say anythin

ot getting o

u --, you!' snarled Mrs. Ke

e matter,

ter yerself an' be mattered! Nice way ter trea

s up

simply splittin', so thet I thought the bones 'ud come apart and all my brains go streamin' on the floor. An' when I wake up there's no one ter git my tea for me, an' I lay t

just for a bit, an' didn't think you'd w

l the other children put togither. You was a cross at yer birth, an' you've been a cross ever since. An' now in my old age, when I've work

rest with the dicky-birds. Liza was thinking of many things; sh

fool,' she sa

there was nobody there. She closed the window again and sat just beside it; the time went on, and she wondered whether he would come, asking herself whether he had been thinking of her as she of him; gradually her thoughts grew vague, and a kind o

im

he answered

hardly unlocked before Jim had pushed his way in; partly shutting it behind him,

, Jim; summat in my 'eart told

eople abaht. Kiss us!' And again he pressed his lips t

a walk, shal

pers. 'You go into the road through t

her once more, he slid out, and

her to venture. She had not made up her mind to risk it, when she heard a key put in the lock, and she hardly had t

e said, ''o

n; I was just goin' aht.' She blushed to her h

' she said,

d and looked at her, wondering whether she was meditating some illegal deed. She breathed freely on coming i