He set the basket down, but not until he had poked his finger about in it.
"Do you buy anything here, miss?"
"No, sir," said Lizzie.
"Do you sell anything?"
"No, sir."
Jenny put up her hand, and pulled Lizzie down beside her.
"We come here to rest, sir. It roars down there," waving her hand toward the city, "and it sometimes smokes up here," lightly touching the big chimney where she sat. "But it's so high, and you see the clouds rushing on above the narrow streets, and you feel as if you were dead."
"How do you feel when you are dead?" asked Mr. Fledgeby, staring at her in surprise.
"Oh, full of peace and thankfulness," said the little creature, smiling. "You don't work, you just rest, and you hear the people who are alive crying and working and calling to one another down in the close, dark, noisy streets, and you pity them, for the burden has fallen off from you, and you feel so strange, so easy, and light."
They all looked at her in silence.