Of course there were
disappointments now and again. In spite of mothers' promises, half
the children had their usual dirty faces, and showed no sign of any
preparation. Five or six of them had nothing to put on their heads;
two had bare feet. It was too late to see to these things now; as
they were, the children clambered, or were lifted, on to the cart,
and Ida took her seat among them. Then a crack of the driver's whip,
and amid the shouts of envious brothers and sisters, and before the
wondering stare of the rest of the population, off they drove away.
"Who'd like an apple?" Ida asked, as soon as they were well clear of
the narrow streets. There was a general scream of delight, and from
a hamper by her side she brought out apples and distributed them.
Only for a minute or two had there been anything like shyness in
Ida's presence; she knew how to talk and behave to these poor little
waifs. Her eyes filled with tears as she listened to their chatter
among themselves, and recognised so many a fragment of her own past
life. One child, who sat close by her, had been spending the morning
in washing vegetables for the Saturday-night market. Did not that
call to mind something?--so far off; so far, yet nearer to her
than many things which had intervened.
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