The child slowly raised her big, brown eyes to look after him. She watched him till he reached the corner by the meat shop; then she looked down and began to kick at the stones with her thin boots.
At this moment a bell rang. A door opened in a building across the street, and many children came out.
As they passed the little girl, some of them looked at her. One little boy bent down to see her face, but she hid it under her arm.
“What are you afraid of?” he asked. “Who’s going to hurt you?”
She did not answer.
Another boy opened his lunch box as he passed, and shook out the pieces of bread, left from his lunch.
Soon the children were gone, and the street was quiet again.
The little girl kicked at the stones a few minutes; then she looked up. No one was looking at her, so she reached out one little hand and picked up a crust of bread.
In a wink the bread was in her mouth. She reached out for another, brushed off a little dirt, and ate that also.
Just then the policeman came down the street from the other corner. The child quickly bent her head and looked down.