Where so many persons (for there were about eight of them, including the landlady, her daughter, and grandson) could all sleep, puzzled me extremely.
The landlady wore a frilled nightcap, which fitted so closely to the skull, that it was evident she had lost her hair. One of her eyes was slowly recovering from a blow, which, to use her own words, “a blackgeyard gave her.” Her lip, too, had suffered in the encounter, for it was swollen and cut.
“I’ve a nice flock-bid for the boys,” she said, when I inquired into the accommodation of her lodging-house, “where three of them can slape aisy and comfortable.”
“It’s a large bed, sir,” said one of the boys, “and a warm covering over us; and you see it’s better than a regular lodging-house; for, if you want a knife or a cup, you don’t have to leave something on it till it’s returned.”
The old woman spoke up for her lodgers, telling me that they were good boys, and very honest; “for,” she added, “they pays me rig’lar ivery night, which is threepence.”
The only youth as to whose morals she seemed to be at all doubtful was “the Goose,” “for he kept late hours, and sometimes came home without a penny in his pocket.”
B. The Girl Crossing-Sweepers.
The Girl Crossing-Sweeper sent out by her Father.
A little girl, who worked by herself at her own crossing, gave me some curious information on the subject.
This child had a peculiarly flat face, with a button of a nose, while her mouth was scarcely larger than a button-hole. When she spoke, there was not the slightest expression visible in her features; indeed, one might have fancied she wore a mask and was talking behind it; but her eyes were shining the while as brightly as those of a person in a fever, and kept moving about, restless with her timidity. The green frock she wore was fastened close to the neck, and was turning into a kind of mouldy tint; she also wore a black stuff apron, stained with big patches of gruel, “from feeding baby at home,” as she said. Her hair was tidily dressed, being drawn tightly back from the forehead, like the buy-a-broom girls; and as she stood with her hands thrust up her sleeves, she curtseyed each time before answering, bobbing down like a float, as though the floor under her had suddenly given way.