Two Little Travellers / A Story for Girls

at, and she

one hole the

as black as

oved one a

heese, and she

th pronounc

arked it wou

ms of their

no

d, carrying their goods and their gossip with them. The boy was feasting upon a hunch of bread and cheese, as a change from devouring his story. Barg

lift as far as Engleton? We've been on tram

ed at his companion, a tall, broadly-built woman, with bold black eyes, olive skin, and flaming cheeks. They were the pair, in sho

shortly. "It's against rules for

ou might oblige a chap. We could make it wort

ig, bold eyes on bargee's face. "My feet's blistered, an' my

ortly, preparing to push pas

iling broadly into his dull face, almost dazzling him with the

rted! Sich a well-set-up lad," she continued, "an' with sich a fetchin' kind o' look, s

it to Engleton in the morning. Where's your hurry?" asked bargee, beginnin

e, while the crooked one gazed into space about half a foot above his head. "We belongs

n the direction of the hilly tract sloping up from the canal course, through which a narrow road, little better than a sheep t

n the direction of his wife. "As I was tryin' to explain, the caravan with part of our troupe went on to Barchester the other day; but me an' my missis here-s

opsley Wood scarin' people out o' their wits? Po

ompany made no reply, and after a moment

"Wouldn't them make a tasty stew for yer supper to-night, my lad?" opening as she spoke a huge wallet which hung concealed bene

to provide. What a pity he could not oblige her and her husband! They were only tramps, to be sure, but decent enough for al

to his master; he was still busy with his bread and cheese. The toll-keeper yet ling

onger. I durstn't disobey orders, an' that's the end o't." Then he added

further, an' I'll take ye in then. But mind,

canal-boat slowed in passing the next toll, with an agile spring the red-haired man leaped from the p

s associates, and his wife Moll came to be passengers alon

hey sat talking to each other in subdued, earnest tones of the small voyagers then sleeping so serenely in the dirty bunker b

uty," said the man, indicating the cabin and the little

sweet as angels down in that dirty hole. But, Joe, now as we have got 'em, do you think

ad any folks belongin' to 'em worth speakin' o' that they'd be let go galavantin' round as we've seed them-here, there, an'

oll, nodding her head sagaciously. "Kids like they is allus

y're nothin' but washed-out rags an' far-worn clouts!" he declared,

n't allus that. They're the remains o' real nice good things. Mind

cry after them for a day or two; then it'll die down as quick as it rose. Poor folks haven't time to indulge their feelin's. Besides, once we've go

tand by you in this business, as I've done in others afore now," she added meaningly, while her better half scowled at her, and muttered under his breath somet

s was a frequent and favourite remark of his

une, and continued in

n' the trapeze. An' the lass, with her yeller curls an' big eyes same's a wax doll's-my, just you picter the crowds she'll draw, trippin' roun

Marvellous Aeronaut of the Age! Little B

ylocks, and Bruno

r attractions! C

ite Company's

d his dirty hands together and laughed gleefully. "We've been on the lookout for a couple o' youngsters this many a day; now we've hit upon them at last. A bear an' a dwarf

to go rollickin' about an' enjoy yourself. But what good'll it do me, I'd like to know?" she asked shrilly. "I share yer dirty work, I know,

s bold venture turns out for us what I expect-whatever colo

ll, beginning to recover her good humour, and flashing a smiling glance into the squinty eye fixed somewhere about her

hat as he was in for the penny he might as well pledge himself to the pound. "Ah! that mak

? A true di'mon', an' none o' your sha

, Moll. There's my hand on't, if you just help me through

eir guilty compact. And thus Moll, who in her better moods might have befriended the chil

sky. The wharf was crowded as usual at that slack evening hour. And in the babel of voices, banging of boxes, shifting of stuff, and general confusion, our little travellers, rested and refreshed by their long sleep and the remainder of the provisions which they had co

d the lad pointed to the golden radiance that glowed in the sky and bathed the peaks behind which the sun had onl

rther now. In one of my Sunday books there's a picture of Christian climbing a hill that led to the City Beautiful. The Hill Difficulty

gleaming teeth, dusky locks, and crimson cheeks. He had seen them before, Darby remembered all at once, hanging about the back gate at Copsley Farm one day when he was peeping from the skylight i

rs," spoke the man's gruff v

utting up his hand in order to raise his hat in the direction of Moll's flashi

right, as usual, Joe Harris," she whispered, turning to her husband. "Them's the style for the

's encircling arms, raised her to her breast, and completely smother

ppointment as they had not done from fright. The moon now sailed slowly on her way through a placid sea of pearly sky. Her beams flooded the fields with a soft

over him, with Joan's stifled cries beating in his ears, it was impossible to do anything more than seem brave; a