![]() ![]() Ninepence was the sum he had to take home every night, and there was not a halfpenny to spare. ![]() The boy blocked the squirrel under his armpit, dived into his pocket, and brought out some copper coins and counted them. From an iron grid on the pavement there came the warm breath of the oven underground, the red glow of the fire, and the scythe-like swish of the long shovels. The shop was a baker's, and the window was full of cakes and confectionery. There was an hour to wait before he would be allowed to go indoors. He was going home after a long day in Chelsea, and, conscious of something fantastic in his appearance, and of doubtful legality in his calling, he was dipping into side streets in order to escape the laughter of the London boys and the attentions of policemen.Ĭoming to the Italian quarter in Soho, he stopped at the door of a shop to see the time. It was a December night in London, and the Southern lad had nothing to shelter his little body from the Northern cold but his short velveteen jacket, red waistcoat, and knickerbockers. A boy of ten or twelve, in tattered clothes, with an accordion in a case swung over one shoulder like a sack, and under the other arm a wooden cage containing a grey squirrel. ![]() He was hardly fit to figure in the great review of life. Published by Good Press, 4057664599636 Table of Contents ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |