Brothers of Pity and Other Tales of Beasts and Men

ut if a louis d'or and a bottle of brandy had depended on my reaching the tinker-mother before the clergywoman, I s

e tinker-mother was standing up, and speak

coming and worriting us in our wood? If I did sell him, I sold him fair-and if I got him

wind and weather, and har

uck to the pigs, and of clothes your

aulked me. You shuts the door in the poor tinker-woman

r?-Sometimes I fancies I makes a mistake and overcounts.

the gipsy girl; and the old woman s

lace for the fine gentleman they made of him. What has such as them to say to it, i

esture as she spoke, and then dropped her el

she ceased muttering the clergywoman unlocked her hands, and with one movement took off her hat. Her hair was smoothly drawn over the roundness of her head, and gathered in a knot at the back of her neck, and the brown

han me, but look at my hair. Am I likely to taunt any one with having grown grey or with bein

laguy past any bearing for the poor, if them that has everything could do just as they likes and never feel no

'I wants the pretty baby with the dar

is poor, they'd sel

nd having the advantages of go

e end of that. His hands are something dark for the son of such a delicate

or him, and nurses and t

tlefolk, and the airs of gentlefol

is a thing I doesn't hold with, and with

him, but the blood that flies to his face when he hears the words of i

. She's a dainty fine lady, and she taught him many fine things, besides religion, which I sets my face against. Tell her she took

nd her eyes wandered from the old woman's face, and looked beyond it, as if she were doing what I have often done, and counting the bits of blue

to buy for myself what God was not pleased to give me. I was very young, and one makes many mistakes when one is young.

ed him, and I lived in dread of your getting him back; and when he ran away, I knew you had. I never agreed with the lawyer's plans-my husband wil

not give him, and with the habits and ideas of a gentleman. You are too clever, and too fond of him, to mind my speaking plainly. Now there are things which a gentleman might do if he had the money, which would satisfy his love of roving as well. Many rich gentlemen dislike the confinement of houses and domestic ways as much as Christian, and they leave their fine homes to travel among dangers and discomforts. I could find the money for Christian to do this by and by. If he likes a wandering life, he can live it easily so-only he would be able to wander hundreds of miles where you

eligion has been a fashion or a plaything to me. If it had not stood by

not agree to my plans-if you won't let me help you about him-if you hide him from me, and I must live

did-oh! for the love of Christ, our only Refuge,

to be rich-if in a long life you have found out how hard it is to be good, and how rare it is to be happy-if you

nly strength that is strong enough to hold

before she could say a word, the youn

r to say that I wish to God I'd the chance of giving my life to get him back for you. But you must come home now. I've bit

stood quite upright she was much taller than I had thought. The young gentlem

, and I fears I may not explain myself to the noble gentlewoman with all the respect that I could wish. She says a great deal that is very true, my daughter, and she has no vulgar inso

she'll let me see him when I wants to, it will be best, my daughter; for I thinks

oughts, my noble gentlewoman, has a tendency to confuse you, though I was always h

mewhat broken with trouble, but they joins in peace. There's a dark young gentleman wit

have Christian. I have told her so. Tell him to get ready and go before his father gets

ht him back. Take him away with you, my dear, for I am failing, and I shouldn't like to leave him with George. Your eyes looks very hollow and your hair is grey. Not, that I begrudges your making so much of my son, but he treats you ill, he treats you

pleased to excuse her, my lady: she is old and gets confused a

l raised her hand, and we all pricked our ears

ks had better go. I'll go to the inn afterwards, and tell them

re our neighbours had dispersed I hustled