"But you had father and mother——"
"I don't know, ma'm'selle,—at least they never showed up."
"But, my child, you must have started——"
"I started in a rag-heap, ma'm'selle. There's where the Podvin found me."
"In a rag-heap!"
"Yes, ma'm'selle,—so they say."
"But don't you remember anything at all before that?"
"Precious little. Only this: that I came a long ways off, walking, and riding in market carts, and walking some more,—and then the Podvin found me,—near here,—and here I am. That's all."
"What does Podvin do for a living?"
"Drinks."