where a post chaise was already waiting with four horses i declare said quite aghast at the preparations well you are going to do it mother here she is sir here s my mother she s quite ready sir that s well returned the gentleman now don t be in a flutter ma am you be taken great care of where s the box with the new clothing and necessaries for them here it is said the in with it all right sir replied quite ready now sir then come along said the single gentleman and thereupon he gave his arm to s mother handed her into the carriage as politely as you please and took his seat beside her up went the steps bang went the door round whirled the and off they rattled with s mother hanging out at one window waving a damp pocket handkerchief and screaming out a great many messages to little jacob and the baby of which nobody heard a word stood in the middle of the road and looked after them with tears in his eyes � not brought there by the departure he witnessed but by the return to which he looked forward they went away he thought on foot with nobody to speak to them or say a kind word at parting and they come back drawn by four horses with this rich for their friend and all troubles over forget that she taught me to write � whatever thought about after this took some time to think o for he stood gazing up the lines of shining lamps long after the chaise had disappeared and did not return into the house until the and mr who had themselves lingered outside tiu the sound of the wheels was no longer had several times wondered what could possibly detain him � � � � thb old shop chapter it u to leave for a while thoughtful and and to follow the fortunes of little the thread of the narrative at the point where it was left some chapters back in one of those wanderings in the evening time when following the two sisters at a humble distance she felt in her sympathy with them and her recognition in their trials of something to her own loneliness of spirit a comfort and consolation which made such moments a time of deep though the softened pleasure they yielded was of that kind which lives and dies in tears � in one of those wanderings at the quiet hour of twilight when sky and earth and air and rippling water and sound of distant bells claimed kindred with the emotions of the solitary child and inspired her with soothing thoughts but not of a child s world or its � in one of those which had now become her only pleasure or relief from care light had faded into darkness and evening deepened into night and stiu the young creature lingered in the gloom feeling a companionship in nature so serene and still when noise of tongues and glare of lights would have been solitude indeed the had gone home and she was alone she raised eyes to the bright stars looking down so mildly from the wide worlds of air and gazing on them found new stars burst upon her view and more beyond and more beyond again the whole great expanse sparkled with shining rising higher and higher in space eternal in their numbers as in their and existence she bent over the calm river and saw them shining in the same majestic order as when the dove beheld them gleaming through the swollen waters upon the mountain tops down far below and dead mankind a deep the old shop the child sat silently beneath a tree hushed in her breath by the stillness of the night and all its attendant wonders the time and place awoke reflection and she thought with a quiet hope � less hope perhaps than resignation � on the past and present and what was yet before her between the old man and herself there had come a gradual separation harder to bear than any former sorrow every evening and often in the day time too he was absent alone and although she well knew where he went and why � too well the constant drain upon her scanty purse and from his haggard looks � he all inquiry maintained a strict reserve and even her presence she sat meditating sorrowfully upon this change and mingling it as it were with everything about her when the distant church clock bell struck nine rising at the sound she her steps and turned thoughtfully towards the to wn she had gained a little wooden bridge which thrown across the stream led into a meadow in her way when she came suddenly upon a ruddy light and looking forward more attentively discerned that it proceeded from what appeared to be an of who had made a fire in one comer at no great distance from the path and were sitting or lying round it as she was too poor to have any fear of them she did not alter her course which indeed she could not have done without going a long way round but quickened her pace a little and kept straight on a movement of timid curiosity impelled her when she approached the spot to glance towards the fire there was a form between it and her the outline strongly developed against the light which caused her to stop abruptly then as if she had reasoned with herself and were assured that it could not be or had satisfied herself that it was not that of he person she had supposed she went on again but at that instant the conversation whatever it was which had been carrying on near this fire was resumed and the tones of the voice that spoke � she could not distinguish words � 