CHAPTER I.
Terminus of the Southampton Railroad at Vauxhall.—Truth and Falsehood.—Reaping flint in straw.—The river Mole.—The Wey.—Canals and Locks.—Poppies and Opium.—Limestone and Chalk.—Gleaners.—Ruins at Basingstoke.—Southampton.—The Bar.—Sir Bevis and the Giant Ascabart.
On Monday morning Agnes did not fail to awake in time, and after an early breakfast the party proceeded to the railroad. It was a very long ride from Bayswater to the station at Nine Elms, and Agnes thought it longer than it really was. At length, however, they arrived, and Agnes watched with considerable anxiety her black leather portmanteau taken off the carriage with the rest of the luggage. She was once going to tell the porter to take particular care of it, but observing that her mother did not speak she also remained silent, and followed Mrs. Merton into a large room, in which a man stood behind a kind of counter, receiving money and giving tickets. When it was Mrs. Merton’s turn, the man fixed his eyes on Agnes, and said abruptly, “How old are you?”
“I was ten last October,” replied Agnes, very much surprised at this question. Mrs. Merton then laid three sovereigns on the counter, which the man took up, giving her three tickets in return, with which she walked away in silence, and joining Mr. Merton they both walked to the railway carriages followed by Agnes, who could not at all understand the meaning of what had taken place. She did not like to ask any questions, as she had promised not to be troublesome, but she could not help thinking of the man’s strange behaviour; and when her mamma, who saw her puzzled look, asked what she was thinking about, she ventured to inquire what the man meant by speaking to her only, and why he took any interest in knowing her age. “I suppose,” said she, “he must have some little girls of his own, and that he wanted to know if I were the same age; but I wonder whether he thought me short or tall.” Mrs. Merton smiled, and replied that she really believed the man had never thought about it.
“Why did he ask my age, then?” inquired Agnes, rather vexed at her mamma’s indifference.
“To know how much you were to pay for your place,” replied Mrs. Merton. “If you had been under ten, I should have paid only half price for you.”
“But why did he not ask you such a question as that?”
“He was probably afraid that I should not tell him the truth.”
“But surely, mamma,” cried Agnes, her face flushing, and her eyes sparkling with indignation, “the man could never think you would demean yourself so much as to tell a falsehood for the sake of ten shillings.”
“If he had known me,” replied Mrs. Merton quietly, “I hope he would not have suspected me of telling a falsehood for the sake of any sum.”